Another Chance
by Arashionelove
Summary: Shiori was able to stop Naruse and Serizawa from killing each other in the last episode. How would life turn out for the three as they face their past mistakes and create new hope for the future. As fate draws the two enemies together again, can they work together to defeat a demon from the past? Can forgiveness be granted and second chances offered? (Naruse x Shiori)
1. Chapter 1: Pain

Chapter 1: Pain

Each step he took, each breath be inhaled, an excruciating pain from his abdomen rippled throughout his entire body. Naruse Ryou struggled to keep from wincing and crying out as he strolled closer to Hideo's former middle school. He knew that the end was near and that all the years of anger, hatred, loneliness, and despair were nearing its conclusion and finally, he may find peace again. But as he approached that fateful place, the pain grew substantially. Although he was trying his best to ignore the pain from his stomach, there was a greater, more suffocating pain that radiated to his chest, from his heart. He couldn't stop the images of Shiori that kept playing in his head. Her smile when they first met, her excitement when he stepped into her coffee shop the first time, the sadness reflected in her eyes when she urged him to confide in her with his problems, and lastly, the one that broke his heart and forever etched in his memory, the image of her tear-streaked face as she begged him to stop proceeding down his path of destruction. The pain of seeing her heartbroken and distressed, and knowing that he was the one to have caused it, was far more agonizing than any physical pain.

As he neared the open storage area of the Hideo's school, he paused and began to draw his jacket closer to him as he buttoned it up, not wanting Serizawa to see it. When he looked down and saw the red stain on his shirt and hands, memories of his past victims resurfaced and he wondered what they were thinking minutes before they died. Naruse knew that if everything went accordingly to plan, then he wouldn't live to see the sunrise tomorrow morning, and right now, all he could think about was of all the wrongdoings that he had committed and the suffering of innocent people because of his own actions and hatred. He didn't know when it had started, when he had started to feel guilt about his actions. Maybe it was when Sora-chan's mother said that she would be forever living with guilt for accidently killing the loan shark although accordingly to law, she didn't have to be punished, or maybe it was when Sora-chan was bullied and wholeheartedly begged him to find the true culprit for the murder. He didn't know exactly when it happened, but he knew exactly who had elicited a change in his cold heart.

Sakita Shiori.

She was the reason for the renewal of his humanity and the melting of his heart of ice. She was the first person, since his brother and mother's death, to have left a substantial impact on his life. Her optimism, acceptance, and love made him realize that there was still some good in the world and when her trust in him began to grow, so did his guilt. The guilt about how she was originally only a small part of his plan, how he had hidden the truth from her for so long, and how even after realizing that he was a murderer, she still chose to see the good in him. _I am not good enough for her. She cannot find happiness with me_.

Taking a deep breath and cringing from the sharp pain from his wound, he slowly began to walk forward again. _I caused her too much pain. If I die, then everything will end and she will find happiness in life again_, he thought to himself. With that thought in mind, his resolution was set and he once again put up his calm façade and continued his final journey towards the school.


	2. Chapter 2: Unintended

**So right off the bat, I just wanted to let you guys know that I am terrible at writing fight scenes as I had to include parts of the final episode from Maou into this chapter so please bear with me. Not everything is the same though and I hope it's okay!**

**Also I forgot to note in the previous chapter, but everything in italics are the character's thoughts (in case you haven't picked it up already)**

**This chapter is much longer than the first one, hope you enjoy it! Once again, comments and reviews are appreciated!**

Chapter 2: Unintended

Away from the lone light that illuminated the large storage space, Serizawa stood in darkness as he waited for Naruse's arrival, fidgeting with the hand gun in his pocket. _I can do this!_

Upon hearing footsteps, he slowly turned toward the sound as Naruse emerged from the shadows and settled right under the light. Serizawa approached the man with apprehension and stood directly in front of him in the spotlight, the final showdown was about to begin.

As Naruse stared into Serizawa's eyes, he saw a fire there that was not previously present, a mixture of emotions were plastered on the young detectives face as he stared back at the lawyer with equal intensity. Anger, hatred, despair, but most importantly despair were evident in Serizawa's features. The engulfing sadness that radiated from his body was one that overpowered all other emotions. Sadness from losing his family and friends, sadness from not being able to save them, sadness from killing Hideo, and sadness that things had to end this way. Naruse didn't even flinch as Serizawa pulled out a gun and aimed it straight at him.

"You caused the death of so many people…even my father and older brother," Serizawa said as tears welled in his eyes.

Naruse was stunned to hear that Serizawa's father had died too and suddenly, at that revelation, he began to realize all the similarities that he and Serizawa shared. They both lived in pain, were alone in the world, worked hard to bury their past, and now they both no longer had any friends or family.

Looking at him now, Naruse noticed that the once energetic and spirited detective was now tired and disheartened. His eyes were red from crying and his appearance was ragged from all the sleepless nights.

His desire to die increased swiftly as he realized just how much he had destroyed Serizawa's life. In the beginning he wanted nothing more than for the detective to feel all the pain in the world, but now, looking at the broken man in front of him, Naruse wondered why in the world he had wanted to bestow his cursed fate onto somebody else_. I caused too much damage._ _If I die now we can both move on_. So the lawyer waited patiently for the inevitable and calmly stared down the barrel of the gun as Serizawa struggled with pulling the trigger.

_This is what I wanted, this is how I can avenge my friends and family_, Serizawa thought as he aimed the gun to Naruse's chest. His hatred and anger had blinded him into taking the gun, calling Naruse, and meeting up with him here, but now that he'd somewhat composed his emotions, he was having second thoughts. His conscience was readily telling him that this was wrong and that killing is never the way to solve problems but he just could not free himself from the all-consuming guilt and hatred that he felt at the moment towards Naruse. It seemed so easy, a pull of the trigger and all his problems will vanish, but is this the way things had to end? He hated Naruse, but does that give him the right to take his life? _Doesn't that make me the same as Naruse?_ As he thought through these questions, Naruse was getting impatient and anxious. He feared that if Serizawa continued his internal debate for much longer, he will die of blood loss before getting shot, so he made a move.

Naruse reminded Serizawa of all that he has done. How he manipulated to have all of his friends killed, caused the death of his older brother by exposing his wife's affair, which lead to his father dying of a broken heart. He also informed him that justice cannot be served as he left no trace behind to tie the murders to him.

"Why won't you shoot me? Don't you hate me? I caused all of your loved ones to die! Just shoot me!" Naruse yelled.

As Naruse hollered at him, something within Serizawa clicked. "All along, that was your plan? You wanted me to kill you. If I killed you, I will finally get my deserved sentence for murder, something that I should have gotten years ago! All of this, all the deaths and now risking your own life was because you wanted me to get the punishment I should have gotten for killing Hideo?" Serizawa exclaimed, finally able to figure out the truth behind the entire plot.

"I no longer have anything to lose," Naruse answered. "With the death of Hideo and my mother, I lost myself and became somebody else. I was fuelled by anger and hatred and lived only to seek revenge," he continued as he began to walk towards Serizawa. "This is the end, the end to my plan, my pain. With this I can find peace and become myself again."

"Chief is seems that Serizawa has taken a loaded gun," Shiori heard a man say in the background.

"He isn't planning on meeting Naruse is?" she heard a woman say frantically.

Shiori's heart stopped at the suggestion and before she heard the end of the police's conversation, she snapped her phone shut and dashed out the doors of the café.

_I have to stop them before it was too late, before one of them, or worse both of them, gets hurt!_

She knew exactly where they were meeting to finish it, back to the place where it all began, Hideo's school. Although it was pretty far from the coffee shop, Shiori ran as fast as she could as if her life depended. She knew that the normalcy and happiness in her life was largely influenced by one man who was currently in danger, so in more than one way, her life did depend on it. She hoped and prayed that she will make it there in time.

Naruse inched closer and closer to Serizawa with every word and now he was standing directly in front of him. As Serizawa began to lower his gun, Naruse grabbed it and tried to get him to pull the trigger while Serizawa tried to stop his rash actions and get the gun back. As the two men wrestled each other for the gun, they did not hear the sound of footsteps hastily coming towards them. Before they knew it, Shiori appeared and also started to struggle for the gun, presuming that Serizawa was trying to kill Naruse and Naruse was trying to defend himself. The two men were shocked at her appearance, but both did not loosen their grips.

"Stop it! Why are you guys trying to kill each other?!" Shiori yelled, tears flowing rapidly down her cheeks.

Naruse stared at the young girl beside him and felt his heart clench at her tears. _It's because of me that she's crying. I am the one who's causing her so much pain_, Naruse thought, making him struggle harder for the gun.

Finally, amidst the tangling of limbs, and pushing and shoving from the other two, Naruse's finger came into contact with the trigger. Without a moment to loose, he firmly planted his finger on the trigger and began to squeeze it. Serizawa, realizing what Naruse wanted to do, tried to knock the gun out of the lawyer's hands as he jerked it to the side, but it was too late.

BANG!

The single gunshot rang through the night. Naruse closed his eyes, knowing that his pain will soon end and that peace will finally be found. But seconds later he knew that something was wrong. He didn't feel the excruciating pain he expected from being shot. A soft moan caused him to open his eyes and to his horror, he saw Shiori begin drop to the floor. He reached out and caught her before she hit the ground and saw blood flowing rapidly from her abdomen.

"Shiori-san!" he yelled.

_She shouldn't have gotten hurt!_ Guilt and disgust overwhelmed him for hurting the one he loved, the one he once vowed to never cause pain to again. _No! No! No! This shouldn't have happened! What have I done?!_

He was so overcome in his own thoughts and despair that when he didn't realize Shiori was moving until her hand suddenly touched his cheek lightly, effectively bringing him back from his trance.

He looked down at Shiori, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Please, it is not your fault. Do not blame yourself," Shiori whispered as she saw the guilt, self-loathing, and sadness flash in his eyes. "Please stop this and come back to the light."

Naruse's heart broke upon hearing her words. Still, even after getting shot, she was still trying to stop him from destroying himself, still cared for him. He held the hand that was currently touching his face and tried to say something to her, anything to her. But words just couldn't form as he took in her condition. The warm, delicate hands that once held his in the church were replaced with cold, clammy ones, the pinkness in her cheeks was fading by the second, and she seemed tired as her eyes began to droop. A frightening amount of blood of pooling underneath her and Naruse felt his heart accerlate as adrenaline and fear coursed through him. _She cannot die!_

He vaguely heard Serizawa calling the ambulance in the background and felt him touch his shoulder to reassure him that help was on the way, but Naruse didn't register any of that. All he could see was the girl he loved, in pain and slowly wasting away. Finally Naruse seemed to have found his words.

"Shiori-san, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I was planning to end my own life to bring you peace. I didn't want to see you so sad anymore, didn't want you to cry anymore," his words came out as whispers but her smile told him that she heard every word. "Please don't die, you can't die," he begged her.

He tried to whisper comforting words to her but most of it came out as sobs. He felt as if he was drowning in his own tears and had to take deep breaths to avoid passing out. Never had he experienced so much despair ever since his family's death, the feeling was new to him, threatening to consume his entire being. He was always able to keep his feelings in check and over the years, was able to control them so that they never reached such a heightened degree. But as he saw Shiori getting paler by the second, all the walls that he built around his heart suddenly came crashing down.

"Naruse-san"

Naruse's breath hitched when she said his name and he tried to wipe away the tears so he could see her clearly.

"You are a good person. I believe that there is good in you. Please stop all of this; it's not too late to turn back. Please love yourself and let others love you," she whispered, her voice getting softer and softer.

Suddenly, the hand that held his face dropped, Naruse not being able to catch it in time as it hit the ground. "Shiori-san!" Naruse yelled. No response.

"Shiori-san, please wake up!" he tried again, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Please don't die, please, not you too. If you die too, there will honestly be nothing left for me in this world! Please open your eyes!" Naruse cried as he hugged her close to his chest, willing her to hear him. _Please don't leave me, I can't lose you!_ he wished desperately.

Naruse was so focused on Shiori, that he did not notice the approach of the paramedics. When they tried to take her away from him and onto the stretcher, Naruse violently pushed their hands away in fear of her leaving his sight. "Stay away from her! Don't touch her!" he shouted. Serizawa came up behind him and told that it was okay and that they were going to save her, as he gently held Naruse back.

The time spent in the ambulance, not knowing whether or not Shiori would make it, was definitely one of the worse times in Naruse's life. IV lines were attached to her arm as they placed an oxygen mask over her face. Lots of gauze, towels and other supplies that Naurse had never seen before were being pressed against her wound to help prevent too much blood loss. During the entire ride, Naruse never let go of Shiori's hand, begging her to survive this. Serizawa held her other hand, also willing her to make it through this and silently promising not to hunt Naruse if she lives.

Sitting there holding the hand of the girl he had a crush on, yet also being the one to have hurt her, Serizawa, like Naruse, was overwhelmed with guilt. He began to reminisce about the times when he would go to her for help, how she did not judge him after he admitted to his crimes years ago, and how she always smiled and encouraged him whenever he felt like giving up.

_If I didn't jerk the gun away, she wouldn't have gotten into the line of firing. If I didn't bring a gun in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. If I had just confessed to my crimes years ago, everybody I loved would still be here! This is all my fault!_

Serizawa sneaked a looked at the man who was sitting beside him. Never had he seen so much emotion in Naruse's eyes. He was one who calculated and planned his every move, one who was always a head of the game and in control, but now in a situation where things were no longer in his control, the result no longer in his hands, he looked lost and for the first time since they met, his humanity shone through the mask he has spent years building. He suddenly looked so vulnerable and Serizawa began to feel pity for the man who has known nothing but remorse and hatred for more than half his life. At that moment Serizawa wondered if he can actually forgive Naruse and seek his forgiveness in return.


	3. Chapter 3: Purpose

Chapter 3: Purpose

Silence. Amongst the wailing sirens, anxious whispers, rushing footsteps, and clicking clocks, Naurse was surrounded by a deafening silence. His mind was blank as he stared warily at the red light located on the top of two white doors, signalling that a surgery was in process. He vaguely remembers holding Shiori's hand as they rushed her off the ambulance and into the operating room. He caught words like "deep wound", "massive blood loss", and "STAT" as the EMT rushed on updating her status to the nurses. Naruse didn't really pay attention to them as he continued to have a firm hold on Shiori's hand as if willing her to take some of his energy and for her to understand that he really wanted her to stay alive.

He was so focused on her that in the end, he had to be pried away from her stretcher as the medical team rushed into the operating room. It has only been 15 minutes since Shiori went in, but it felt like a life-time to Naruse.

His evening had ended drastically different from how he had planned. Instead of dying by Serizawa's hand, they were now sitting next to each other at the hospital, awaiting news on Shiori's condition. How can the grand finale of his plan be so far from what was originally scripted? What went wrong? At this time, Naruse thought back to people who had cared for him. What would Hideo, his mother, and Ryo's sister say if they found out all the horrible things that he has done? Would they hate him? Would they forgive him? He thought about Hideo's courage as he stood up to bullies for the sake of his friend, his mother who has always encouraged them to do the right thing and do some good in the world, and Ryo's sister who thanked him for all the years of looking after her on behalf of her dead brother, Naruse realized that they would not be proud of him for all that he has done, for all the pain and suffering that he has caused others. _I was wrong_, he thought as an epiphany hit him.

He stole a glance at the man beside him, the one who has recently lost everything. He realized along the way of the murders that Serizawa did indeed feel guilty about Hideo's death and actually wanted to be punished for it only to be stopped by his father. This man had been forced to suffer like he did, but did that make him feel better? The answer was no. He didn't feel better with causing Serizawa so much pain and killing all those people even though at the time he thought they were guilty. Why were they able to live such a good life when his brother had to have his cut short? Now he came to see that it was not his right to determine who should live and who should die. _Well at least I was able to save Kasai in the end. Hopefully he can live a good life with Mari-san, that's what Hideo would have wanted._

Yamano. I wonder if Hideo would have been upset and disappointed when he recruite his friend in his plan of revenge, the person who he died trying to save. _I hope that by stabbing me, Yamano can find his much needed peace and stop going down the dark tunnel that I have prepared for him_, Naruse thought to himself.

Suddenly, he felt Serizawa nudge him and he looked up to see that the red light was off and the doctor was coming out from the operating room.

"How is she!" both Naruse and Serizawa exclaimed at the same time.

"She'd lost a lot of blood, the gunshot wound was very deep and an inch higher, would have penetrated her liver. We were lucky that she got here so quickly. We were able to extract the bullet, and she should be awake in a few hours. It is imperative that she gets a lot of rest to recuperate," the doctor informed the anxious pair.

"Thank you doctor!" Serizawa expressed happily.

Relief like none before swept through Naruse and the joy he felt left him speechless as the doctor and the nurses walked away. His breathing began to return to normal and his heart which was racing minutes before started to calm down. _Shiori-san is okay_, the words kept replaying in his head. When she was wheeled out from the OR, he rushed to her side. He looked upon her sleeping face, looking like that of an angel's at rest, with colour back into her face, brought Naruse to a whole new state of euphoria.

"Come on Naruse-san, let's be there when Shiori-san wakes up," Serizawa urged him with a great smile on his face.

Naruse began to walk towards the man jumping for joy when suddenly he felt a massive pain in his abdomen. The pain that he had totally forgotten about during the rush to the hospital with Shiori-san's life fading in front of him, suddenly increased ten-fold as it hit him again. Naruse almost doubled over in pain and it took all of his energy to keep him standing.

"Naruse-san?"

He heard somebody call his name but his head was spinning. It felt as if all of his energy was escaping him at the same time, like a popped balloon that begins to wither and deflate only seconds after the air begins to escape. The last thing he heard before being consumed by darkness, was Serizawa yelling his name.

Wind.

Naruse felt a light breeze rush past his hair as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw a very blue sky, omitted of clouds. As he used her hands to sit up, he felt that he was previously lying on grass. The pain was gone and the tiredness that he had previously felt had also dissipated.

_Where am I? Heaven?_

He looked around and saw that he was situated in the middle of a lavender field. He relaxed to the distinct smell of the flower before getting up to explore his surroundings. He was currently on top of a little hill, with a river running near the bottom of it. There was a single tree near the river at the bottom of the hill and something that resembled a bench could be seen behind the tree. When he listened closely, Naruse was able to hear birds chirping and the sound of the river water running. He couldn't remember the last time he was so relaxed, his guard and defenses were completely down.

He slowly descended the hill and walked toward the river when he suddenly felt a presence. He slowly inched closer to the bench and saw a person sitting there already.

_He looks so familiar_

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" Naruse asked as he continued approaching the stranger.

"You are unconscious right now, so I decided to come and visit you," the stranger answered. "It can't be…" Naruse whispered as it suddenly dawned on him why the person seemed so familiar, with a voice that he could never forget.

"I missed you, older brother." Naurse gasped when he heard this and the stranger began to turn around.

Naruse couldn't believe his eyes, it was Hideo. He was frozen in shock. _Why is Hideo here? Why am I here? Did I die? _

"Hideo…" Naruse began and at his younger brother's smile, he began to run towards the boy, engulfing him in a great hug. "I can't believe it's you, I missed you so much!" Naruse exclaimed.

"I never left you big brother. I was always there with you, every step of the way," Hideo said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And I will continue to be with you."

"What do you mean?" Naruse asked as he pulled back from the hug.

"You need to go back," Hideo answered. "Now it not your time, time will come when we get to reunite as a family again, but now is not that time. You still have a purpose in life and you finally have the chance to pursue it. They need you back there big brother."

Naruse looked at his younger brother incredulously. "Need me? Purpose in life? What do you mean? All I've ever done in my life ever since you and mom left is hurt people and hurt myself. I can't go back, I don't want to go back."

"What about Shiori-san? Don't you want to know if she is alright? And I thought you wanted to seek redemption and forgiveness? How are you going to do that by staying?" Hideo answered with a knowing look in his eye. He saw his older brother struggle to find an answer and knew that he won the argument.

Naruse didn't know how to respond to Hideo. He really did want to make sure that Shiori-san was okay, especially since it was partially his fault that he was hurt, but he did not want to go back. He didn't know how to face her again or face anybody there in fact. He caused so much hurt and harm that he doesn't know how to ever repay them for it. Naruse doubted that they even wanted him back. But when he looked at Hideo, he saw the trusting look in his younger brother's eyes, exactly like the ones that Shiori gives him. _How is it that they can still trust me? What did I ever do to deserve these people in my life?_

Hideo gives him a small smile and Naruse's mind was made up.

"I love you big brother and I'm always proud of you. Please don't mourn for me or mom anymore, we are safe and happy here. Please forgive yourself and Serizawa, I know that he did not mean to hurt me. Also, please let him know that I also want him to forgive himself and to let go of all the guilt that he has held onto for so long. He turned out to be a good man," Hideo said as he began to fade away.

Naruse smiled at his younger brother. _Somethings never change, Hideo is still the kind and forgiving boy that he was all those years ago._

"Oh! One more thing, say hi to Shiori-san for me!"


	4. Chapter 4: Truth

Chapter 4: Truth

_She looks like an angel. _

He has thought that since he first met her but for the last couple of weeks, her angelic face had been filled with grief, worry, and sadness. It's been a long time since Serizawa has seen Shiori-san look so peaceful and carefree.

He gently tucked a strand of stray hair from her face behind her ear. He smiled at her and promised himself that he will never cause her any pain ever again.

In the quietness of the hospital room, Serizawa silently goes over all that has happened in the last 24 hours. His older brother dying in the interrogation room, his father dying of a broken heart, trying to kill Naruse himself, finding out the true motives to Naruse's plan, begging him for forgiveness for a stupid act years ago, getting Shiori-san hurt, and now sitting in the hospital waiting for both Naruse and Shiori to wake up from a near fatal injury.

Serizawa sighed, _This was not how I pictured this evening to be_.

A light knock at the door drew Serizawa out from this reverie. He quietly got up and went to open the door, surprised to see the Chief at the other side.

The Chief did not look happy and beckoned Serizawa to follow him outside. Serizawa warily followed the older gentlemen through the hallways and up the stairs when finally his boss's footsteps slowed as they reached the door to the roof of the hospital.

Suddenly the Chief spun around and slapped Serizawa hard against the back of his head. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? ARE YOU CRAZY? NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!"

Serizawa was astonished. He has seen the Chief mad before but not to this degree and he has definitely never gotten hit before.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE ABOUT YOU? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Serizawa gulped and took a deep breath before answering the fuming Chief.

"I'm sorry. I know my actions were impulsive and irrational. I wasn't thinking straight. It won't happen again," Serizawa said as he bowed his head.

Nakanishi seemed to have relaxed and soften at Serizawa's apology, but the tense look on his face did not falter. "Why do you always make such reckless decisions? Were you really going to kill Naruse? Do you have any idea what this can do to your career now with Shiori-san hurt? We had to send multiple teams out searching for you!"

"It's not looking good. I think they are going to have a review for you soon," he sighed.

Serizawa looked out at the city lights down below him as he walked further to the ledge of the balcony. "I know. I hurt Shiori-san and that's something that I'll never forgive myself for. I dragged an innocent person into a feud that was started long ago by my careless mistake. Although I didn't hurt physically Naruse-san, I did have the intention to do so", Serizawa said quietly. "I don't think I qualify to be a law enforcer anymore."

"Well I don't think Shiori-san's going to blame you and the doctors said that Naruse-san is going to be okay," the Chief replied. "Although your intentions were not right, the most important thing is that nobody was fatally injured and nobody is certain who it is to blame for those who are hurt."

At this, Serizawa suddenly remembered something and quickly turned to Nakanishi. "Why was Naruse-san hurt? I'm sure that there was only one shot fired and that hit Shiori-san, so why was Naruse-san bleeding so much?"

The Chief looked away from the eager eyes of the young officer and turned to face the open night sky. Serizawa saw that the Chief begun to shuffle his feet lightly and was fidgeting with his hands. This was a sign that he was hiding something and it was not good.

Serizawa lightly probed again, "Why was Naruse-san injured?"

The Chief exhaled visibly but didn't turn to Serizawa. He didn't want to see the look on his face when he broke the news to him.

"As you know, Naruse-san had an accomplice. That's who we think stabbed him?"

"Why would Yamao hurt Naruse-san when they are partners?" Serizawa asked.

"Well we don't know the truth to it all yet, but from what we deduce, they may have had a disagreement."

"Disagreement? Their plan was perfect and it was all going to meet their desired end soon, what kind of arguement would they have at a crucial time like this?" Serizawa asked again.

"Maybe Naruse-san wanted Yamano to stop but he didn't want to and ended up stabbing him," Nakanishi replied. He stole a glance to the younger officer and at seeing his confused look, knew that he had to continue the story.

"How do you know that?" Serizawa asked after moments of pondering the Chief's suggestion.

The Chief took a deep breath again and looked Serizawa straight in the eye. "Because we know what they may have been arguing about."

"And what is that?"

"Kasai Hitoshi"

Serizawa was confused to why the pair would fight about his friend when the Chief began to speak again. "Naruse-san paid for Kasai's bail this morning and I guess Yamano didn't like that very much."

"I guess it makes sense that they would quarrel over it especially if Naruse-san didn't consult Yamano ahead of time," Serizawa said. Feeling that the Chief still hid something from him, he asked again, "But how do you know that that's the reason why they fought?"

"Because Kasai was found dead an hour ago. The main suspect is Yamano."

Serizawa's heart stopped upon hearing this revelation.

_Dead? How can he be dead? No, this can't be happening! He should've been safe, happy now that he's gotten a second chance. How can he die too? Did Naruse kill him too? But I don't understand, Chief said the main suspect was Yamano! What happened?!_

As thoughts were flying through Serizawa's head, Nakanishi continued to talk. "We know that Naruse-san didn't kill him. Kasai was found very far away from your school and according to what you told us, Kasai was killed only minutes before you met up with Naruse, so we ruled him out as a suspect. Also, I have a feeling that Naruse wanted to give Kasai another chance or else he wouldn't have bailed him out. If Naruse deemed it not necessary to condemn Kasai and Yamano didn't agree with his decision, the two could have argued, resulting in Naruse getting stabbed and Yamano carrying out the task of bringing Kasai to justice himself."

As the Chief shared his thoughts with Serizawa, everything seemed to make sense. There were times when he begged Naruse to stop and he would seem to ponder the suggestion and struggle to keep up his stoic façade. Yamano did have as much reason to hate him and his friends as Naruse did seeing as how they used to bullying him extensively in school. _But why couldn't he just have come after me like Naruse did and leave my friend alone?_

Sensing that Serizawa need time to think everything over and absorb all things that he has just heard, Nakanishi began to head down to the stairway. Pausing only a second to look back at the young detective crouched down on his knees; he says quietly, "By the way, Naruse-san is awake."


	5. Chapter 5: Atonement

_**A/N: I have included the police Chief into this chapter. For those who didn't know his name is Nakanishi Hiromichi**_

* * *

Chapter 5: Atonement

_This is stupid, why can't I just go in? _

Serizawa has been pacing outside of Naruse's door for the last five minutes and still he couldn't get a clear resolve to go in and meet the man who he has taken everything away from and in turn who has taken everything away from him too. _Well except Kasai, that wasn't his doing._

Still pacing, Serizawa thinks about all the similarities that they both of them shared. Both losing the ones they loved most within a very short period of time, both living with guilt and anger, and in the end, both begging the other to kill him in order to escape the pain of living and dealing. _I guess we are more similar than I realized. I killed his family and didn't have to be punished for it, now he killed my family and we can't directly link the murders to him. He wanted to kill me, I wanted to kill him. He begged me to kill him, and then I ended up begging him to kill me. Wow, we are so alike, it's actually kind of scary_.

After a few more minutes of debating, Serizawa decided that it was time. Taking a deep breath, he slowly held the handle to the door and knocked softly before entering.

He didn't know what he expected, but this definitely wasn't it. Naruse was dressed up in his suit again, sitting on his bed, staring straight at him. His hair seemed to be matted to his head and his entire body posture told him that he was tired, but the intense gaze that he held for Serizawa was still the same as always.

"You finally decided to come in. I was wondering how much longer you were going to pace outside my door. A few more minutes, and I would've gone to get you," Naruse said in a calm voice, but something in his tone has changed. It wasn't as cold or taunting as it was before. His features didn't contain the hidden anger and contempt that was once a permanent element when he talked to him. Somehow, the Naruse sitting on the bed looked the same, but was so different at the same time.

"How did you know I was outside your room and why are you dressed like that? Shouldn't you be resting? The doctor said that you lost a lot of blood and needs rest," Serizawa said once he gotten over the initial shock and found his voice again.

Silence fell over the room as Serizawa continued to stare incredulously at Naruse and the lawyer trying to figure out how he should begin his explanation to the detective. Finally, Naruse stood up and began to stride slowly towards the window. There was a slight limp in his walk and Serizawa was just about to ask him to sit down when Naruse suddenly started to talk.

"When Hideo and mom died, I felt that my entire world had come crashing down on me. I didn't have the money to keep the house and therefore had to move out. All my good memories were in that house and in the end that too was taken away from me. All I had left was my brother's broken harmonica and my mom's music box," he whispered while looking out the window.

"When I knew that you and your friends were not punished for your crime, I was enraged. I'd never felt that much hatred for a person before. I guess you can say that that was the day when I began to walk down a path of darkness and despair," Naruse continued on, with a hint of sadness and longing in his voice.

_Why is he telling me this?_ Serizawa thought as guilt rushed over him, but he didn't dare utter a word. He knew that Naruse needed to talk and that there was a point to this talk.

"I wandered around for so long that soon years passed before I knew it and I didn't even accomplish anything. When my friend Ryou died, something clicked inside of me. Losing another important person to me made it too hard for me to move on. The pain and hurt that I had kept in check over the years suddenly resurfaced and I was consumed by it. I took Ryou's ID card as a memento of my good friend and fell into depression for a few days. One day as I looked at Ryou's ID card, I suddenly had a crazy idea. All of a sudden, I had a chance to start over. To make something out of my life and have the revenge that I'd always longed for," Naruse said as he gripped the windowsill.

"I continued on with school and decided to become a lawyer. It was what Hideo wanted to become and I felt that I could manipulate the law to my terms. It was the law that failed me when it let you go on the charge of self-defense and therefore I decided to use that same law against you. I spent countless nights developing the perfect revenge scheme and even recruited Yamano to help me. I knew he hated you almost as much as I did and would love to see you heartbroken. Everything was perfect down to the smallest detail and at first things were going smoothly," Naruse reminisces.

"But like everything else in the world, there are too many things that are unpredictable," Naruse chuckled quietly. "At first I just wanted to use Shiori-san's ability to lead you in the wrong direction, I never knew just how much she could've impacted me. For the first time in years, I felt my anger fade little by little with each death and guilt silently began to creep up to me. I guess you can say that she started to melt my heart of ice. I gave up on friendship and love a long time ago, but without me realizing it, she gave these to me. It's been such a long time since somebody actually cared about me and to what happens to me. I guess that it's because of her that along the way of my schemes, I felt more and more reluctant to carry through with my plan. I saw all the distress and damage I did to Sora-chan's mom when I manipulated her into thinking that your friend kidnapped her daughter and into using the mist gun to activate his asthma. I also did not plan to become so attached to the young girl who so innocently entrusted her faith and hope to me. For the first time since I started, I began to question whether I was doing the right thing or not but Yamano always ensured that it is what Hideo would have wanted so I continued. Too late did I realize that I had journeyed down a path that I could no longer turn-around from therefore I had to carry it through to the end. I hope that by sparing Kasai that I can at least atone for some of my sins," Naruse said sadly as he began to turn towards Serizawa.

"You were supposed to kill me. With my death in your hands, I would have accomplished all that I planned and I would also be able find the peace that I haven't felt in so long. With my death, everything would have ended. But you didn't do it. And now, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know how to deal with all the people here on earth and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with my life anymore. The one thing that I worked so hard to achieve has already ended. What am I supposed to do now? How can I face you guys again?" Naruse asked, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

Serizawa didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to the talkative Naruse, and was especially not used to him spilling out his life story and feelings to him. He was appalled at the life that Naruse was forced to live and felt immense guilt at being the one to have pushed him to his breaking point, and drove him to live with so much hate and pain.

"You know, when I was unconscious, I saw Hideo." At that statement, Serizawa's eyes snapped up to Naruse.

"Maybe it was just a dream, but it felt so real," he said as he stared off into the night again.

Serizawa gulped, "What did he say?"

Naruse smiled as he looked up to the moon, "He said that he wanted me to find a purpose in life, to seek forgiveness and redemption, and that he and mom will always be with me."

"He also told me to tell you that he wants you to forgive yourself," Naruse said as he turned to face Serizawa.

Shocked registered on his face. _Forgive myself? How can I? I killed him and he wants me to forgive myself? _

"Hideo said that he knew it was only an accident and that you didn't mean to hurt him. He knows that you have suffered a great deal and hopes that you can let it go and be a good detective," Naruse said.

"I should have known. It was so stupid of me to think that Hideo would want me to avenge him. He always wanted peace and to resolve conflicts. He was so kind and forgiving. He accepted everybody as they were and never judged. I was so foolish to think that such a loving person would want his older brother to go down a path of vengeance and to live life filled with hate and anger," Naruse continued. "I have a lot to learn from that guy."

He looked at Serizawa's stunned form and began to get onto his knees. Serizawa snapped out of his trance and tried to help Naruse back up, but was pushed back.

Naruse looked up to Serizawa, with a look of remorse and guilt in his eyes. "I am so sorry for all the things that I have done and the pain that I have caused you and the ones you care about. I know that you can never forgive me, but I want you to know that I do feel bad about it."

Serizawa saw regret and sadness etched on Naruse's face, and knew that the man who knelt in front of him was no longer the cold-hearted, revenge hungry man he once knew. Instead, in that moment, it felt as if the kind and caring Manaka Tomoo resurfaced and was asking for his forgiveness.

In response, Serizawa also fell onto his knees. "It is I who should be asking for forgiveness. It was my reckless actions that caused this tragedy to unfold in the first place. If I have just confessed to my crimes and accepted the appropriate punishments instead of hiding behind my father's back then all of this wouldn't have had to happen. If I wasn't so arrogant then Hideo wouldn't even have gotten hurt in the first place. If there's anybody who should ask for forgiveness it's me!" Serizawa shouted as he lowered his head to the grounded.

"You are forgiven"

"Huh? What did you just say," Serizawa exclaimed.

Naruse looked straight into his eyes and repeated, "You are forgiven."

"Eh? How could you forgive me? I tore your life apart. I'm the reason for all your pain and suffering over the years," Serizawa stated.

Naruse smiled, the first real smile since his family's death, "I am the reason for my own pain and suffering. I was the one who chose the wrong path, you didn't force it upon me. I was so blinded by my own anger that I failed to realize what Hideo would have wanted for me. He wouldn't have wanted me to avenge his death and be a cold-hearted murderer, instead he would've wanted me to live for him too, to enjoy life and live it to its fullest for him. Since he does not blame you for his death, I also, do not blame you anymore and you have my forgiveness."

Suddenly a weight lifted off of Serizawa's shoulders. He stared into Naruse's eyes and saw the genuine compassion and pardon there. _So this is what forgiveness feels like_, Serizawa smiled.

"I want you to live a full life Naruse-san," Serizawa said. "I do forgive you for all your past mistakes, since it was largely my fault. I know that you truly regret what happened and wanted to make amends when you paid for Kasai's bail. Like Hideo and Shiori-san, I want you to love yourself and find a purpose in life. You are the angel lawyer after all, I know you can use for skills for the good. I know you feel that you can no longer go back, but I think you still can. This is like a second chance for the both of us, let's seek atonement together," Serizawa said, holding out his hand.

Naruse looked bewildered for a second at the detective's words but held out his hand to shake Serizawa's regardless.

"Deal"

Outside of the room, Nakanishi smiled, hearing the entire conversation and glad about the final verdict between the two. _There is still hope for these two after all_, he thought as he walked away.


	6. Chapter 6: Farewell

_**A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter. I really wanted to get this out before school started! Happy Reading!**_

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Chapter 6: Farewell

Sunlight streamed into the room through the partially opened blinds and birds can be heard singing a cheerful song, signalling the start of a new day.

Shiori-san rolled around in her bed trying to avoid the direct streams of light in order to get a few more minutes of sleep. As she found the perfect spot in the shadows, she faintly heard voices closing in on her. She desperately wanted to block them out as she still felt drained and weak, but was rudely prevented from getting a good rest when somebody started to nudge her and call her name.

"Shiori-san!"

She tried to swat the hand away but the voices just kept on getting louder. Finally, accepting the fact that she would not be able to get some rest until she dealt with her guests, she opened her eyes.

She was immediately blinded by the sunlight, but was quickly relieved from that as faces hovered above her, blocking the light.

"Shiori-san? Thank goodness you are awake! How do you feel?" a voice asked her.

She blinked a couple of times before focusing on the face from which the voice came from. "Serizawa-san?"

"Yes, it's me. Don't worry, you're okay. The doctor says that you are going to be fine!"

_Doctor? Am I in the hospital? Why am I in the hospital? _As she pondered these questions, all of the previous night's memories came flooding back to her and she bolted straight up, forgetting about her wound. The pain hit her like a thousand knives and she is forced to lie back down.

"Where's Naruse-san? Is he okay," she groaned, holding her stomach.

"You should take care of yourself. No strenuous activity until the wound is completely healed. You shouldn't move around too much," Nakanishi said with a soft voice.

"You had us all worried. Please don't do something like that again," Serizawa added.

Shiori looked around the room and asked again, "Where is Naruse-san?" Seeing both men exchange nervous glances, she asks again with a hint of worry, fearing the worse, "Where is Naruse-san? Is he okay?"

Still not getting an answer, she tried to sit up again, "I need to go and see him!"

"He's fine," Serizawa said as he pushed her slightly back into bed, trying to calm her down.

"He is? Thank goodness! Is he awake yet? Can I go see him?" She asked, glad that her angel lawyer is alive.

Serizawa exchanged a worried look with the Chief again and took a deep breath as he turned to her reluctantly. "You can't go and see Naruse-san because he left already."

"WHAT! What do you mean he left? He didn't even say goodbye! Where is he?" Shiori panicked.

Seeing her hysterical state, Serizawa decided to tell her all that had happened last night to her. Tears started to spill as Serizawa told her about Naruse's life growing up and sobs were heard when he told her that Naruse did want to change but felt that it was already too late. By the time Serizawa told her that they made up and forgave each other, the tears dried and instead a big smile was plastered on Shiori's face.

"He didn't tell me where he was going, only that he wanted to atone for everything that he has done and leave this place where sad memories lingered. However, before he left, he asked me to ensure that this got to you," Serizawa said as he pulled out a letter from his pocket and gave it to her.

She stared at the letter and debated whether she should read it or not. She didn't want to hear his goodbye again, she just wanted to see him smile one more time, to hold his hand one more time. A single tear fell as she realized that this was all she had left of him, his two letters and his mother's music box. Tears started to run freely as she comprehended that she didn't even have a picture of him, will never hear him laugh anymore, not see his emotion-filled eyes anymore, and will never be able to hear his soft yet compelling voice anymore.

As she began to cry, Serizawa decided that it was best to leave her alone. He knew that no matter how much he wanted to stay by her side, this was something that she would want to deal with by herself. So he signalled to Nakanishi and they left the room silently, giving her some privacy.

With shaking hands, Shiori began to break the seal of the envelope and pull out the letter. Taking a deep breath and willing her tears to stop, she opened the letter and began to read:

Dear Shiori-san:

By the time you read this, I have already left. I'm not sure where I am heading, but I hope to eventually find a place where I can start over. Since I caused so much trouble as Naruse Ryou, it would only be right if I changed and become a better person as Naruse Ryou. I am not sure if I can do it, but for your sake, I will try my best.

I am so sorry for not listening to your desperate pleas, involving in my disastrous plan of vengeance, and ultimately leaving you behind again. It was my fault that you got hurt, and it only adds to the list of things that I would never forgive myself for. I only left when your doctor assured me that you were going to be okay with no permanent damage. You looked so peaceful in your sleep, it's been a long time since I'd seen you smile and for some reason that also brought a smile to my lips. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid to talk to you again, I'm afraid that when you wake up and see me, your serenity will leave and be replaced with the grief and torment that I cause you. The one thing that I will always regret is bringing you pain. Please understand that I never wished to hurt you, I never wanted you to cry, all I ever wanted was for you to smile. It's because of that one small element that I have changed. Again, I would like to thank you for teaching me what it means to be human again and to have shown me that you truly cared. I will be eternally grateful.

I promise that this is the last time I will hurt you. I promise that you will never hear from me again. I do not want to cause you any further pain. I wish you all the best as you deserve it. You are the angel that saved me from the very depths of hell. You deserve happiness more than anybody else I have met. I will always be praying for your happiness and health. Please know that I will always miss you and I hope that you will forget about me. I want you to laugh, to smile, to love, and to care. I want you to have fun, fall in love, and be happy. I wish you all the best in the world.

Shiori-san, I am so sorry and I hope that you forgive my selfish and cowardly actions, and thank you very much for everything.

Farewell,

Naruse Ryou


	7. Chapter 7: Continuing

Chapter 7: Continuing

It's been two days since Shiori woke up and read Naruse's letter, yet she still could not fully come to terms with the fact that he had left her for good. She didn't eat, didn't sleep, and didn't even talk unless somebody asked her the same question repeatedly. Her catatonic state caused Serizawa and Nakanishi to constantly worry about her. They often tried to talk to her and to tell her current news of the outside world or anything interesting that they may have come acrossed, though she remained uninterested. Her friend from the café, Nishina Eri, also visited her but Shiori still didn't show any signs of improvement. After a week of staying in the hospital, the doctors allowed her to go home and Serizawa took the day off just to personally escort her home.

"Shiori-san, since you've been in the hospital for so long, you want to go have lunch somewhere? I heard that there's this new place that just opened down the street. It's supposed to be really good!" he tells her as they step out of the hospital.

Silence.

"If you are not hungry, should we watch a movie? There's this really interesting new movie about…"

"I want to go home," Shiori whispered so quietly that Serizawa almost didn't hear her. Since it's the first thing she said all morning, he complies immediately and walks her home.

As Shiori enters the café, something runs directly to her, attaching to her at her hip and almost knocks her over.

"Nee-san! Welcome home!"

Shiori looks down and is met with the wide grin of Sora-chan.

"I'm home," Shiroi says with a small smile.

Sora-chan begins to pull on Shiori's arm to lead her over to the table. "We were so worried about you. I wanted to go visit you, but mommy said that children shouldn't be in the hospitals, we may get in the way of the doctors and the nurses," Sora-chan said as a pout formed on her lips.

"Sora, don't pull on nee-san's hand so hard, she just came out of the hospital," her mother reprimands her daughter, as she walks out from the kitchen with Eri.

"I'm fine, you didn't have to worry Sora-chan," Shiori says as she pats the younger girl's head.

"Since you're back, does that mean that Nii-san will also come back soon? I miss him and his stories, nobody reads to me anymore," Sora-chan says, looking a little upset.

Serizawa shoots a worried glance at Shiori's friend. Sora's mother noticed the exchange and quickly stepped in.

"Sora, stop bombarding nee-san with so many questions. She must be tried, she just got home. Let her rest," she said as she began pulling her daughter away. "Say goodbye to all of them, it's time to go."

Sora-chan went to give Shiori a hug, told her that she was glad that she was back, and left with her mother.

The silence in the room after the pair left was suffocating. Just when Serizawa finally thought of something to say, Shiori abruptly stood up, "I'm going to my room for a nap, good night."

Serizawa stared at her retreating figure and sighed, _I hope she's going to be okay_.

Days go by slowly for Shiori. She returned to work and helped out at the café regularly, she attended church and all of their fundraisers. Serizawa and the Chief often visited her, to ensure that she was not on the verge of a breakdown. As days turned into months, little by little Shiori began to revert back to her cheerful and optimistic self, but there wasn't a day when she didn't miss Naruse. _I guess the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true_.

No matter how hard she tried, everything she saw reminded her of him. When she goes downstairs to the café, she would think of the first time he visited and how happy she was, and when she collapsed, how grateful she was to have him there. When she went to work, she would remember their first meeting when she asked if he was an architect. If she saw a man with a lean built with a suit on walking down the street, her heart will leap and then falter when she realized that it was not Naruse. She tried to look happy and cheerful for her friends so that they won't worry about her, but inside she was still trying to mend her shattered heart.

It's been 5 months since she read his letter, and she can honestly say that she's improving. Although there are still times when she missed him and things continue to remind her of him, she was dealing with it better. She refuses to remember any of the pain and hurt from the last few weeks with him, but decided to treasure all of their happy moments together. She no longer forces her smiles, but allow them to appear naturally. She starts to help the police with their investigations again, and is taking up volunteering to busy herself so she doesn't have so much time alone at home, doing nothing but thinking. She's proud of all the progress she has made and it makes it easier for her to continue knowing that that's what Naruse-san wanted for her.

Serizawa, on the other hand, was getting more and more frustrated each day. The last 5 months have not been easy for him. He constantly worried about Shiori-san, had to go to see the board for his review as a detective, had to beg Nakanishi to remain as the Chief, look after a depressed ex-sister-in-law, and amongst all that, he was still trying desperately to find Yamano. The stress accumulated each day, and Nakanishi had to keep a watchful eye on him to ensure that he didn't have a mental breakdown. Shiori tried to help console and encourage the young detective but knew that unless Yamano is found soon, his stress will not lessen and sometime soon, he will reach his breaking point.

Serizawa spent countless days in his empty house trying to follow leads on Yamano. He looked through numerous records regarding the murderer but there was no paper trail to him. He sold his house, didn't have any credit cards and he even withdrew all of his money out of his bank account. His company told him that Yamano had suddenly quit and since he didn't really have any friends at work, none of his co-workers had any idea where he could be. It was impossible to find him and for all Serizawa knew, Yamano may not even be in the country. There was only one person who was ever close enough to Yamano to know any details of his life, but unfortunately, that man was also off the radar. So this led to the mounting stress of Serizawa as he slowly drifted into hopelessness. With everything that had happened, diving into work was the only way Serizawa was able to cope with the loss of everybody he loved. But as he repeatedly reached dead ends, Serizawa's composure was starting to crack as his many sleepless nights, poor nutrition and the physical and mental stress over the past few months were catching up to him.

"I'm worried about him," Nakanishi said as he sipped his coffee. More often than before he found himself visiting Shiori-san at her café, sometimes they will talk about the case that he was currently working on or any other interesting news that the two came across. But recently the pair found themselves frequently discussing about Serizawa and his unhealthy life styles.

"I know, I'm worried about him too. He looks so stressed these days. He'd lost so much weight and he always have this faraway look in his eyes, like he's not really there when you talk to him. He's always thinking about the case or taking care of the ones he have left. The worst part is that he won't tell anybody about his problems and keeps everything bottled up," Shiori answered as she sat down and began to stir her tea.

"Some days he looks worse than he did with the Amano cases," Nakinishi said, deliberately leaving out a certain male's name to avoid upsetting Shiori-san.

"There must be something we can do!" Shiori exclaimed as she inwardly flinched at the reminder of Amano.

"I'm afraid there isn't much we can do," Nakanishi answered. "Yamano left no trail behind and the case has been opened for so long that soon the department is going to let it go cold and close it. Besides, the board thinks that we shouldn't spend so much time on this case especially since we have more pressing recent cases to deal with."

"I guess I understand their point of view, but I really want to help Serizawa-san with this case. He's been burdened with his case for so long that I feel that only once Yamano is found, can he finally put everything behind him." Shiori-san sighed.

_I guess it's now or never_, Nakanishi thought.

"Well there may be a way to find him," he started. "There is only one person who really knew Yamano well enough to had communicated and worked with him and therefore maybe there will be a chance that this person knows where we can locate Yamano."

"Why don't you go and ask that person then?" Shiori asked, confused.

"Because we don't know where he is," Nakanishi replied, sneaking a glance at Shiori.

She suddenly realized who the Chief was talking about and sadness washed over her. Although it's been almost half a year since he left, she still felt a pang in her heart whenever she thought about him.

"Well it's impossible to find him too," she whispered, looking down at her hands.

"Not impossible, just improbable"

Shiori's head snapped up and stared at the police Chief, shocked registered across her face. "What do you mean? Do you have an idea where Naruse-san may be?"

"No, but I thought maybe you may," Nakanishi said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I don't know where he is, if I did, I would've gone to find him already."

At that the police Chief took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table in front of her, "That's just because you didn't know where to look."

Shiori stared at the object in front of her, vaguely remembering seeing it in Serizawa's possession. "Isn't this Serizawa-san's? How can I know where to find Naruse-san with this?"

"This wasn't originally Serizawa's. It once belonged to Naruse's younger brother, Hideo. Before he left, Naruse gave it to Serizawa as a peace offering," Nakanishi explained.

"How do you know?"

"Well I may have overheard a bit of their conversation that night," Nakanishi replied, looking a tad bit embarrassed.

Shiori slowly raised her hand to grab the bent object_. Please, please let this harmonica show me where Naruse-san went_.


	8. Chapter 8: Fate

_**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update. School just started and life has been crazy! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews are appreciated and just may make me update faster :D**_

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Chapter 8: Fate

She opened her eyes and tears started streaming down her face.

"He felt so sad and lost in the after image," she whispered. "In the image, he was talking to somebody on his cell phone about booking a flight out of Tokyo."

"So we know that he had probably left Japan then," Nakanishi said. "Did you see anything else?"

Shiori closed her eyes again and tried to remember other things around his room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a hospital room. He didn't have any bags with him, an IV was running to his right arm, his black suit was hanging off the back of a chair that was pulled up to the bed. Although she couldn't see his face in the after image, she knew that he was tired by the way his body was slightly leaning forward and the slow rise and fall of his back as if he was taking deep breaths to steady himself. Even though she can clearly see and hear him talking of the phone, his attention seemed to have been focused on something else.

"He had a laptop!" Shiori suddenly gasped, making Nakanishi jump out of his seat a little.

"Can you see what he was looking at with the computer?" Nakanishi asked.

Shiori closed her eyes again and tried her best to focus her energy on the laptop that was sitting on Naruse's bedside table. _Japan Airlines, New York, 15:00 departure._

"He's in New York!" Shiori shouted with glee. She jumped out of her chair and was about to rush up to her room and book a flight to America to find him when a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"He WAS in New York, doesn't necessarily mean that he's still here," Nakanishi said calmly, slowly dragging Shiori back into the chair.

"But that's the only lead we have and there is still a possibility that he's still there!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Yes, but New York is really big. What are the chances that we can find him amongst all those people? We have to carefully plan this before we set out to look for him. It's going to be hard to convince the board to allow us to bring a few detectives with us to New York," Nakanishi said as he weighed the pros and cons of the current situation.

"It doesn't matter, I'll go by myself if I have to! I'm not going to give up on this one lead to find Naruse-san!" Shiori proclaimed.

"But…"

"I'd met him amongst millions of people here in Japan, it was fate that brought us together, and I believe that fate will bring us together once again. I know that my journey with him has yet to end and that it's my destiny to be with him and heal him. I know that I can find him and I won't give up until I do!" Shiori declared with a determined note in her voice.

"_It wasn't really fate that you met him, he was watching you all along and wanted to use you for his plan of revenge_," Nakanishi thought but knew better than to voice his opinions. He looked at her and saw the resolvedness in her eyes and knew that there was no stopping her. She can be as stubborn as a mule when she wanted to and this was definitely one of those instances.

"Well I guess there isn't much harm for you to go to New York to look for him, but I just don't want you to get your hopes up and then have them shattered," the Chief sighed.

Shiori shot him a smile and nodded before she dashed up the stairs to her room.

* * *

As Nakanishi walked back to the police station after his lunch break, he pondered how he was going to tell Serizawa about the newest development of the case. He knew the young detective's personality very well and can easily predict that he would immediately toss aside any work that he was currently working on and rush to New York like Shiori-chan. _Those two are too alike in some aspects_. He sighed and continued walking on.

He was met with a familiar sight as he walked into the office. Serizawa was furiously typing something into the computer, surrounded by mountains of case files, looking extremely exhausted as if he would collapse at any moment. _I guess this guy can use some good news right now_.

"Serizawa, come with me to the roof," he called. When Serizawa was about to object, Nakanishi silenced his excuse with a glare that can send the toughest gang members fleeing. Seeing that he had no choice, Serizawa grudgingly got up and dragged himself to follow the Chief to the roof.

"Before I say anything, I need you to promise you will not act recklessly as things are already taken cared of," Nakanishi says as he stares at Serizawa.

The young detective was thoroughly confused but nodded his head in agreement nonetheless.

"Not acting recklessly means that you will not abandon your current cases and leave the country. It also means that you will not object to anything I say or the decisions that I make, understood?" Nakanishi asked and Serizawa nodded.

"I need to hear you say it."

"I promise."

Nakanishi motioned for the younger detective to follow him toward the ledge of the roof. He waited for a while and took a deep breath before turning to Serizawa once again. "As you already know, no matter how hard we have tried over the last couple of months of finding Yamano, we have always hit dead ends. I think it's time to take another approach to this problem."

"_Oh no, he's going to close the case and forbid me to continue searching_," Serizawa thought. Before he could argue Nakanishi raised his hand signalling that he was not finished and Serizawa immediately fell silent.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to stop searching. All I wanted to tell you is that I've debated on a few things for a long time now and have finally reached a decision," Nakanishi said.

"I was thinking about his and Naruse's relationship. Nobody knew Yamano better than Naruse did. No doubt Naruse kept an eye on him over the years, but they had also worked together for a long time. I believe that before the falling out, Naruse was the one person that Yamano trusted the most. I think that Naruse will have an idea where Yamano may be hiding."

"I thought about that too, but we don't even know where Naruse-san is, so it's not like we can really ask him now can we?" Serizawa replied.

"And if I told you that I have an idea where he is?"

Serizawa shot his Chief an incredulous look as if he has just said something crazy. "What do you mean you have an idea where to find Naruse?"

"Remember what you promised me," Nakanishi started and didn't continue until Serizawa unwillingly nodded.

"I thought about all the times Shiori-san was able to catch a glimpse of a murder scene with the tarot card, so I brought her the one thing that Naruse always had with him. I believed that since it was so important to him, it may offer images of what happened minutes before it left his possession."

"The harmonica? How did you get it? I keep it on top of my fireplace at home?" Serizawa asked surprisingly.

"I took it when you were not watching the last time I visited your house," Nakanishi stated as a matter- of-factly.

"_That explains why he all of a sudden wanted to come over. And here I thought it was because he worried about me_," Serizawa thought. "So was she able to see anything that can help us find him?"

"Yes, she saw his lap top opened to the Japan Airlines page and the flight to New York at 15:00 highlighted," Nakanishi informed him.

"New York?! I must get to New York then," Serizawa shouted as he began to run towards the staircase.

"Wait a minute! You are not going anywhere!" the Chief shouted as he ran to grab a hold of Serizawa's arm. _Seems like I'm doing this way too often_.

"You are not going to New York. As promised you are to say here and continue to work on your current cases. Don't worry, Shiori-san said that she will go and try to find Naruse-san," Nakanishi explained.

"But I have to go! I need to find him, to get him to help me to find Yamano!" Serizawa shouted.

"Yes, and Shiori-san will find him and bring him back. Let's be honest, there is a better chance of her persuading him to come back than you. Besides, do you remember what the board said? They are going to audit you and determine your suitability for this job. You cannot just randomly run away to another country for who knows how long when your career is at risk! Tell me, if they render you unfitting how can you possibly bring Yamano to justice then?!" Nakanishi scolded.

An internal debate raged within Serizawa. He knew that what the Chief said was true but he really wanted to find Naruse himself. This was a crucial part to solving the case, and he desperately wanted to be the one to acquire it, despite risking his job, but he knew better. He knew that if he did lose his job, then even if Yamano is caught, he will not be the one to charge him.

Serizawa sighed,_ Why do I always have to make such hard decisions?_ He nodded to the Chief and silently prayed that Shiori-san will be able to find Naruse and bring him back soon.

* * *

It had been a crazy night for Shiori. She had to quickly pack all that she needed for the trip into one suitcase, book the plane ticket for the next flight to New York, go to the library to request two weeks off of work which took a long time and lots of begging as it was such a short notice. Then she had to tell her ecstatic friend that she will be gone for a couple of days to find Naruse-san and therefore will not be able to help out around the café.

It was long after midnight when she finally got everything in order and within minutes of falling on the bed, she was asleep. It was the best sleep she's had since finding out that Naruse-san was responsible for the many deaths that occurred.

The next morning Shiori woke up with a smile plastered on her face. She glanced at the clock, 03:30, three more hours until her flight. She got ready quickly and after making sure that she'd gotten everything she needed a third time, she headed downstairs with her overly packed suitcase.

After 5 minutes, she finally managed to get downstairs quietly with her heavy suitcase. She panted as she took one last look at the café. Suddenly, the pile of tarot cards that lay next to the entrance caught her eye and she decided to get a reading before leaving. After a few moments of considering which card to pick, she finally chose one near the middle of the pile.

She smiled when she saw the card she drew.

Wheel of Fortune, suggests of a possible reunion. _Just like the first time we met, I knew that fate was on our side. Wait for me Naruse-san, I'm going to bring you home_, she thought as she headed out from the café, determined to do whatever it takes, no matter how long it takes to fulfil her promise to the man that she loves.


	9. Chapter 9: Messages

Chapter 9: Messages

In the dark, a man in his mid-to-late twenties paced around the dusty room. His eyes were sunken with great dark bags under them and his cheek bones prominent from lack of nutrition. His crooked glasses hung low on his nose and his shaggy hair was hanging all over his face, mildly hiding the small smirk that appeared on his face.

The only source of light was from the two candles that were in the middle of the room which flickered whenever we brushed past them. He fidgeted with his hands as he paced and suddenly as if an idea just came to him, he stopped and rushed over a table that was located on the other side of the dim lighted room. He took out a Swiss army knife from his pocket and slowly used it to break open the tape seal of the big cardboard box. He cautiously opened the box and stared at the contents inside, a faint ticking noise can be heard.

He grins at the object and closed the box slowly. He reached over the other side of the table to grab a black envelope, places it on top of the box, and lifts both up gently as he proceeds out of the room and into the misty night.

* * *

"_New York is definitely not how I expected it to be_," Shiori thought as she exited the JFK airport thirteen hours later and was currently riding a cab to her hotel to check in.

She looked out her window and saw the busy streets of New York crowded with pedestrians, cars, buses, shops, and from what she deduced, street performances. There were so many cars on the streets that they were stuck in a traffic jam that didn't seem to be moving anytime soon.

_Even though many people drive cars in Japan, I've never seen this many cars before. Do they not like to walk or take the bus? No wonder the streets are always so packed_.

She glanced at her watch, 19:50, _Ah, no wonder, its rush hour. Guess I'm not going to be getting to the hotel any time soon_. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to get some much needed sleep.

Two hours later, she finally reached the hotel. She sleepily got out of the cab, paid the driver, and stumbled up the stairs of the hotel. After given the card to her room, she took a grey looking elevator up to the third floor. Her room was the second one from the elevator and when she opened the door, she quickly collapsed onto the bed. _I'm going to find Naruse-san tomorrow, when I get my energy back._

* * *

Serizawa Naoto was not happy. Here he was, stuck in Japan facing a mountain of current cases and having his every move watched under the scrutinizing gaze of the director, while Shiori-san was off to Japan trying to find Naruse all by herself and hopefully obtaining some information as to where Yamano may be.

_Why couldn't I have gone with her?_

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard somebody clear their voice behind him. He looked up and saw his partner staring down at him.

"What are you doing?" She asked, towering over him.

"Nothing"

"I can see that, do you need some help with your cases?"

"No, I'm fine," he replied and began to turn around to his desk when he heard loud footsteps quickly approach the office.

The door bursted opened and the Chief ran out from behind them, appearing dishevelled. Looking around the room and noticed that it only held two occupants, Nakanishi started to spurt toward the startled pair.

"Chief, is everything all right?," Serizawa asked with concern.

Nakanishi took a few moments to catch his breath when he pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to Serizawa.

Serizawa took the black envelope with caution and saw that it was addressed to him. He glanced at the Chief and at his approval, began to open the envelope. Inside he found a photograph of his old middle school. _That's odd, why would anybody send me a picture of this?_

"The back! There's something written on the back of the picture," his partner shouted.

Serizawa immediately turned the picture over and found an eerie sentence scribbled there. _Today 15:00, don't be late_.

"Today? Does somebody want to meet up with you? Maybe it's Naruse again!" his partner said.

"No it's not him, this isn't his M.O. He uses red envelops instead of black ones and he has never handwritten anything before, especially not on the back of pictures. Everything was always printed on paper. Besides, I have a feeling I know who sent this," Serizawa added, sensing a chill descend upon the room.

_Yamano!_

* * *

At 14:50 the trio arrived at Serizawa's former middle school. Luckily it was Sunday so there were no students on campus and after ten minutes of persuading and near-threatening, they were able to convince the janitors to leave the premises.

Serizawa stared as his watch, nervous as to what Yamano would do at 15:00. When the long hand of his watch hit the 12 to signal 15:00, Serizawa braced himself for the worse. Seconds ticked by and still nothing happened. Suddenly as if on cue, a large explosion could be heard from the back of the school and a cloud of black smoke began to rise.

The three detectives stared at each in shock before running in the direction of the explosion.

Serizawa came to an abrupt stop when he realized that the explosion came from the same place where he held the confrontation with Naruse and accidently shot Shiori-san. The storage area which had been so dark and ominous a few months ago was now blazing and humid as flames consumed the place. _This is the place where my nightmares began_. Serizawa started toward the flames, absorbed in memories, when he felt Nakanishi pulling on his arm, hauling him away from the thriving flames that have already destroyed most of the things that were kept there.

He was able to vaguely hear the Chief report the incident and tell the dispatch to call the firefighters immediately. Serizawa was stunned at what was happening before him and he almost didn't hear the firefighters arrive as they pushed him out of the way to work on dissipating the growing flames.

Serizawa sat on the pavement at the side of the road and watched as numerous people gathered at the school's entrance. Apparently they had all heard the loud noise from the school and when they heard the blare of the fire truck and police sirens, they finally gave in to their curiosity and ventured outside to see what all the commotion was about. He didn't pay attention to any of the inquisitive bystanders though and walked by the reporters without so much as a glance at them. As he headed towards the front of the school, he suddenly heard his partner yelling.

"There's a note here!"

He quickly ran over to where she was and looked at where she was pointing at, and sure enough on one of the trees near the explosion site, a note was nailed to the large trunk.

_What he had not finished, I will continue. The finale is coming. Your fate is now in my hands. _


	10. Chapter 10: Reunion

_**A/N: Sorry for the long update, but this chapter is super long, so hopefully that makes us for it. So finally after so long, NARUSE'S BACK! **_

_Also, I'm introducing new characters to the story from the drama:_

The Police Chief: Nakanishi Hiromichi

Serizawa's female partner: Takatsuka Kaoru

Serizawa's male partner: Kurata Takashi

* * *

Chapter 10: Reunion

_Where am I supposed to start looking for Naruse-san? _Shiori thought as she walked around Central Park. It was mid-afternoon and after five hours of aimlessly walking around the streets, she decided that it was time to come up with a different plan as her current one was not working out. She tried to think of places where he might be, places where he liked to go, or held some sort of significance for him. _I guess I really don't know him_, she sighed after five minutes of thinking and drawing a blank.

She sat there silently and took in her surroundings and relaxed to the light breeze that blew through her hair. There was quite a few people in the large park; parents were dutifully watching over their children as they played with other children who they've just met, many couples were sitting together on benches, holding hands and whispering loving things in each other's ears, a few joggers can be seen as they sprinted across the park, and many animal lovers were presently walking their pets.

She was just about to get up from her bench when she noticed an old couple stopping a jogger on his track to ask him the directions to some Italian restaurant.

"I'm not sure where that restaurant is, but you can always get a phone book and look up the place and call them for their address," the young jogger said.

_A phonebook! Of course, phone books usually have every citizen's name and phone number recorded. I can use that to find Naruse-san, besides, if he is here, now many Naruse's can there be in New York!_

Shiori was elated by the idea and started to leave the park when a sudden thought hit her. _Where am I going to find a phonebook? There are no phone booths around?_

Remembering that she'd previously seen old phone books stacked together near the corner of the reception desk at her library before, she decided that that's where she was going to head for, the New York Public Library.

Getting there was a lot faster than she had originally planned. Apparently the distance between the park and the library was quite small and within minutes her taxi pulled up to the steps of the grand library. She stood in awe of the great structure in front of her. There were three large arches where the entrances were located and a pair of fierce looking lion statues made out of marble stood guard outside the library, giving the library a majestic atmosphere. As she ascended the steps, she saw a wedding party near the side of the building taking wedding photos and was surprised at how important this library must be for them. As she pushed the revolving door into the library, she was immediately engulfed in warmth and a sense of security that she was used to feeling whenever she went to work. The library was a place of refuge in her younger years. It was a place where she can be normal, away from the sympathetic gazes of teachers and friends from school about being an orphan. Books became an escape for her, transporting her to another time or place, where she didn't have to face her current problems, allowing her so be somebody else for a short period of time. She loved the fact that the library contained books of so many genres; textbooks that explained concepts in math, science, history, and art, many different types of novels that can make you cry, smile, or laugh, magazines that you can lose yourself in while finding out more about the world, and books for a quick and easy read. Over the years, she spent more and more time at the library until the manager got so used to seeing her that she was offered a job there, because nobody knew the library as well as she did.

Even though she was many miles away from home, in a foreign country by herself, being in a library gave Shiori a sense of peace and calmness in the busy and chaotic city. Her tranquility was broken by the sound of children chattering and laughing. She turned toward the sound and was frozen in shock. A group of children with a red label sticker on their shirt was filed into the library. They were probably around 5 years old and were excited to be on a field trip, their eyes shining in awe as they began to ascend the stairs on the left side of the library. They were laughing and chatting as the teachers tried to calm them down, and Shiori flashbacked to her first visit to the library, all those years ago and how from that one visit, she now has a life-long appreciation for libraries. Although the children drew the attention of most people around them, they were not what took Shiori's breath away. At the front of the assembly of children was a young man in his mid to late twenties. He had short black hair and a slight hunched posture as he bent down to talk to one of the children. His tanned skin seemed to be radiating as the sun light shined upon him. He had a small smile on as he tried to coax one of the children to wait for the rest of his class before dashing up the library stairs, his eyes were full of warmth with a hint of amusement. He looked the same but so different at the same time. The person that stood before her was not the same broken and lost individual who left her behind. But no matter how much he changed physically, she cannot forget his voice. That soft, velvety, strong voice that never failed to make Shiori's heart race, belonged to only one person on earth.

_Naruse-san!_

* * *

"Are you sure that the note was left by Yamano?" Serizawa's partner asked him as he stared at the note.

It was the day after the explosion and after reading the note thousands of times, Serizawa continued to stare at it.

"Serizawa, Takatsuka, the chief wants us to meet him in the conference room," Kurata interrupted.

The trio made their way to the conference room and waited for the Chief.

"You were right Serizawa, the note was written by Yamano," Nakanishi said as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "We matched the writing on the note to the writing on Yamano's job application form from his former company and got a positive hit."

"From the debris, we were also able to recover parts of a bomb. It's currently being processed by the Bomb Diffusion department. We should have the results soon," Kurata added.

"Bomb? Where did Yamano get a bomb from?" Serizawa asked incredulously.

"We have to wait for the bomb squad's results to know," Nakanishi informed him.

"Do you think he had any help?" Takatsuka asked.

"We don't believe so. The note did say that _my_ hands, singular, suggesting that he's working alone." The Chief answered. "Besides, from all of our research of this man, it's pretty certain that he doesn't have any close friends or family and therefore there isn't really anybody he will allow in on his plan."

"What about Naruse?" the female detective inquired.

"The note said that he's going to finish what Naruse-san started. If Naruse-san was on in the plot, Yamano wouldn't have written that," Serizawa answered.

"So what do you know up to now? That Yamano is still out there with a thirst for revenge or destruction, that he's probably still mentally unstable, and that we still can't locate him," Takatsuka said as she dropped into the chair, burying her hand in her hands.

"And that he won't stop until he gets his revenge on me," Serizawa replied as a matter-of-factly.

* * *

_I can't just run up to him and drag him back to Japan, that's going to cause a big scene and not to mention it may scare him away. Maybe I can sneak up on him and talk to him privately and convince him to come back. But what if he isn't happy to see me? What if he tells me that he's happy here, away from Japan, away from me? What if he says that he doesn't miss me and tells me to mind my own business and go home?_

As Shiori debated on what she should do, Naruse began to lead the crowd up the stairs. When she noticed him begin to leave she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"NARUSE-SAN!"

All the chatter died down as her scream echoed through the large hall of the library foyer. People stopped and stared at her as they wondered what she'd just screamed. When nobody began to leave the library or take other precautionary actions, the crowds started to resume their conversations while casting fleeting glances at the young woman who had just screamed some incoherent phrase on the top of her lungs.

The young man froze at the sound of his name. _That voice can only belong to one person, but what is she doing here in New York? _He turned around to look down the rail of the staircase and there surrounded by the light of day, seemingly glowing was Shiori-san, looking like an angel. He quietly told the teachers where to lead their classes when he slowly descended the stairs to where Shiori-san was.

_She looks just the same. The fire and life has returned to her eyes and she seems healthy, though she's lost some weight_, he thought worriedly as he approached her. _It's been so long since I last saw her, I really didn't plan to see her again, I left her behind when I ran away from my life in Japan. Why is she here now?_

He stopped a few meters away from her, wary of her presence. "Shiori-san," he whispered.

The mere sound of her name leaving his lips was enough to cause tears to begin streaming down her cheeks. She thought that she'd never hear his voice again, never see him again, but here he was now, staring directly at her with the same intense gaze, that she felt he was staring directly into her soul.

The sight of her tears shocked him. His heart began to ache and he wanted nothing more than to wipe her tears away. He could never stand the sight of her crying, especially when he was the reason for her tears, and his heart began to break all over again. "Shiori-san," he whispered again, walking closer to her slowly. He was unsure if she was happy to see him or sad to see him so he approached her slowly to not overwhelm and surprise her.

At the sound of her name again, Shiori snapped out of her daze and realized just how close he was to her. But for her, it wasn't close enough and he was taking too long to come to her so she launched herself in his arms before he could even register that she'd moved.

She buried her head in his chest and clutched hard at his shirt as she began to cry again. Having him so close again, feelings that she kept hidden in the deepest parts of her heart began to resurface, and she gripped his shirt harder as she began to remember all the times that they spent together before she found out that he was a murderer. The memories both happy and sad caused her to break down, all her bottled up feelings came bursting out when her legs gave way to the immense feelings, the only thing that held her up was Naruse's strong arms wrapped around her waist.

Naruse looked at the sobbing girl in his arms and knew that he has a lot of apologizing to do when she collected herself together, but in the meantime he was just glad to be holding her again. He didn't realize just how much he had missed her until she was in his arms. As he began to soothe the whimpering girl, he kept a strong hold on her and silently vowed that he would never cause her to cry ever again.

After a few more minutes of Naruse whispering calming words in her ear and his hand running through her hair, Shiori began to calm down and the sobs turned into sniffles as she tried to compose herself. She lifted her head from his chest, afraid to meet his gaze, turned and looked around her. She realized that quite a number of people were staring at them and her cheeks flushed as she realized that she had just been crying her eyes out in the middle of the second largest library in the United States, of course many people would be staring at her as if she was mentally unstable. _Well I kind of am emotionally unstable right now,_ Shiori thought. She buried her head in Naruse's chest again in an attempt to hide from all of the curious stares that was being shot in her direction. She felt Naruse chuckle when she did this and began to lead her away from the foyer.

After a few minutes of walking, Naruse stopped and opened the door for her. Lifting her head for the first time since they started walking, she stepped into the large room and immediately a sense of awe washed through her. _This is just like Harry Potter!_

It was a grand hall that had shelves of books that ran along the sides of the walls. Rows of oak tables were lined up perpendicular to the book shelves and were only separated by a single pathway in the middle that lead from the front to the back of the reading room. Copper-coloured desk lamps were situated on the desks to provide better light if needed and large crystal chandeliers dangled from the ceiling right above the tables, along the side of the pathway. Large windows were present to allow natural light shine through, giving the entire room an overall majestic demeanor.

She looked up and saw three ethereal murals of soft fluffy clouds and vibrant skies on the ceiling, surrounded by exquisite bronze frames that contained extremely detailed little sculptures that seem to tell a story from what she could see down below.

Shiori was so dazzled by the scenery in front of her that she forget that she was standing right in front of the entrance, blocking others from entering the room. Naruse gently tugged at her elbow to lead her to one of the empty tables near the middle of the room. His touch sent an electrifying shock through her and she was immediately jolted back to reality and was becoming more and more aware of his presence beside her.

As they approached the table, he held out the chair for her as he took a seat opposite of her, much to her dismay. His sudden absence made her feel cold and she craved his warmth again. The two sat silently and stared at each other for a couple of minutes, bothnot knowing what to say.

_Looks like he's not going to start the conversation, so I might as well get this awkwardness over with_, Shiori thought.

"I never thought I'd see you here. The library is beautiful, you work here now?" Shiori said, trying to keep her voice calm.

At her question, Naruse let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He knew that she had many questions to ask him, but was glad that they wouldn't have a confrontation in the middle of the quiet library. "This is the Rose Main Reading Room. It was first built in 1911, but with the wear of time, many features of the room had to be renovated. It was in 1998 that the room was restored to its former glory, with the painting of new clouds on the murals and renamed after the sponsor of the restoration project," Naruse smiled warmly.

As he was about to continue, a voice called his name, making him stop and turn around at the newcomer.

"Ryou, I thought you were leading the student tour today," the voice continued.

Shiori looked behind her to see who the intruder was. There, standing behind her, totally ignoring her presence was a skinny, tall, blond haired young woman. She was wearing a very short dress, showing much cleavage, the appropriateness of it was questionable. She had a bright red shade of lipstick on and her face looked abnormally white from all the makeup she used. Her eyes looked big and Shiori wondered if it was because of the makeup or if they were naturally that big. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she was currently fluttering her eyelashes at Naruse-san. One look at this woman and Shiori knew that they would never be friends, something about her presence made Shiori uneasy and she just wished that this meddler would just leave her and Naruse-san alone.

"No, I'm getting off soon. I just helped Jane gather and organize the group of students," Naruse replied friendly.

"Oh I'm almost done too. Do you want to catch a movie together? I heard that there's this new horror movie that's supposed to be really good," she said as she went to sit beside him, opposite of Shiori.

When she sat down, Naruse took this chance to introduce Shiori to his friend. "This is my friend from Japan, Shiori Sakita," he said as he pointed at Shiori. "Shiori-san this is my friend Britney," he motioned to the young woman who was sitting too close to him for Shiori's liking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I thought Ryou was just sitting by himself," she said, looking at Shiori for the first time.

The look that Shiori received from the blond lady was one full of annoyance and exasperation.

After that Britney started to talk to Naruse about stuff that Shiori didn't really catch as she was whispering it in his ear. It must have been a recount of something that happened because the next thing Shiori knew, Naruse was laughing.

_He's laughing? I'd never heard him laugh so genuinely before._

For the first time that day, Shiori looked at him, really looked at him. She caught a glance of him in the foyer but before she could take in his appearance, she had already launched herself into his arms.

He still had short black hair but instead of it being neatly combed as she was used to seeing, it now hung loosely, with a few strands falling over his forehead and almost to his eyes. His eyes were now shining as he laughed and chatted with Britney. They no longer held the hurt, pain, and anger in them that she saw all those months ago. His cheek bones and sharp jaw was still prominent but he looked healthy now and did not seem so tired and distressed anymore. He had gained a bit of weight too, not too much, but a healthy amount. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt with the first two top buttons undone and dark grey pants. She was surprised at this current wear as she'd never seen him in anything but the usual black suit and tie attire of a lawyer. He looked so much more carefree now and his smiles now seem genuine and more easily elicited.

Looking at him now, Shiori wondered if she had made a mistake coming to New York to find him. He looked content with the life he had now and who was she to ask him to return to the one place where he spent the darkest times of his life in. He had changed so much is a couple of months, Shiori now wondered if she still knew who he was.

_Did I even know who he was before? When I thought I finally understood Naruse-san, he turned out to be somebody I never pictured he can be. _

The kind-hearted and amicable lawyer that she had found herself falling in love with turned out to be a cold-hearted vengeful murderer. But as she studied the man in front of her, she wondered if this was still the same person who caused the death of so many others.

He seemed to be enjoying the company of this Britney and a hint of jealousy flashed in Shiori's eyes. She was jealous of the fact the Naruse-san was being so real toward this blond haired woman. That she can make him smile and laugh and appear so carefree. She was jealous that she herself had missed all of his transformation for the last six months while this woman was probably there all the time enjoying his presence.

She finally snapped when the woman put her hand on his arm and leaned in close to him to whisper something else in his ear. The look that she gave Naruse was one of pure adoration, infatuation, and lust.

Tears began to gather in Shiori's eyes as she saw this occur and before she heard what Naruse's response was, she stood up quickly, causing others at the table to stare at her, and dashed out of the library.

She vaguely heard somebody yell her name but by that time she was already out the door and rushing through the foyer, out the library.


	11. Chapter 11: Truth

_**A/N: So sorry it took this long to update but it's a long chapter (I think it's my longest so far), so hopefully that makes up for it. Life has just been crazy and chaotic, but nonetheless, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Just a heads up, lots of Naruse X Shiori moments in this chapter **_

_**Please read and review!**_

* * *

Chapter 11: Truth

Serizawa was pacing in the office silently while the others quietly stared on. They had just received a report from a witness stating that a man, holding a cardboard box, walked toward the school a couple of hours before the bombing occurred. The only reason the witness remembered this stranger so clearly was because the man was hearing a black track suit, his hood was pulled up and a white surgical mask covered his face, making him look terribly suspicious. Serizawa was sure that it was Yamano. A familiar tightening in his chest can be felt as Serizawa was once again racing against time to try to stop a dangerous criminal, but he knew that some things were different this time around. When Naruse hunted him, he always targeted the people that Serizawa loved but this time, Yamano blew up a place and he just couldn't figure out why. At least with Naruse, he knew what to expect.

"Stop placing, you're making me dizzy," Takatsuka said.

Serizawa shot her a glare but nonetheless sat down in his chair. "I don't understand. Yamano says that he wants to finish what Naruse started but Naruse never targeted places or caused any destruction to property so why is Yamano doing so now?" he asked.

"Maybe he has other plans to achieving his goal and it's more of a personal vendetta. Naruse already got rid of the people who had once bullied him, except you, but he chose to bomb the school's outdoor storage area instead of coming to you, why is that?" the Chief pondered.

"Did that particular place have any significance to Yamano?" Takatsuka wondered aloud.

Serizawa thought about the scorched storage area and the tree on which the note was found, and suddenly a thought came to mind. "The storage area was where we used to bully him after school and where Hideo died. The tree where the note was found was where my friends and I used to hang out during breaks," Serizawa disclosed.

"So places that he associated with his pain and anger," Kurata said.

"It wasn't only that. Because we picked on him, in fear of also becoming targets of our bullying, others stayed away from Yamano and ostracized him. Hideo was the only one who ever tried to reach out to him," Serizawa sighed. "I guess it was in middle school that he began to develop an inferiority complex because of everything that we put him through and the loneliness that he felt at such a young age continued with him throughout his adult life."

Serizawa stared at the floor as past memories flooded his mind.

_Even with everything I've done, no matter how hard I try to be a good detective, to bring people to justice, to keep the community safe, I still can't escape my past. No matter how hard I try to do some good in the world, it just can't make up for the horrible crimes I had committed in my foolish youth._

Noticing Serizawa's brooding demeanor, the Chief decided to brighten up the atmosphere. "Well there's no point in trying to figure out what Yamano has in mind. We don't know enough about him to predict his next moves. There is no point in breaking a sweat over it right now," he said as he glanced at the clock that hung behind him. "It's time for dinner, let's go out and have ourselves a nice meal, my treat!"

"Ah! I can't," Serizawa suddenly exclaimed. "I have plans with Mari-san tonight. She's been feeling better these days but there are still times when she is consumed by depressing thoughts, so I invited her over for dinner tonight."

"Shoot! I'm already late, see you guys tomorrow," he said as he casted a glance at the clock and bolted out the door the next second.

* * *

Her eyes didn't want to open, but the sunlight streaming in from the window told her that it was already late into the morning. She rubbed her eyes groggily as she sat up in bed, still feeling tired even after a whole night of rest. She dragged herself to the washroom and was not surprised by her dishevelled appearance as she stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying herself to sleep, her hair was tangled and messy, she was still in her clothes from yesterday afternoon and her nose was red from all the sniffling she did yesterday. She peered outside of the bathroom and saw all of her tear and mucus stained tissues were still gathered at the foot of her bed. _Gosh, I'm such a mess_.

She quickly took a shower and fixed her appearance. She combed her drenched hair and applied a bit of makeup to cover up her tired face and the bags under her eyes. She changed into new clothes and for a second, she felt a little better.

Between all of the crying and sobbing yesterday, Shiori had come to a few decisions. First she would leave New York soon, but will attempt to enjoy herself since she was here and sight see for a bit. Then she will drop a note at the library (hopefully not running into Naruse-san) and wish him the best for his new life here, and then when she got home to Japan, she will do everything and anything she can to help Serizawa-san with the case. After seeing the carefree Naruse-san yesterday, she didn't have the heart to ask him to come back with her, nor did she have the strength to say goodbye to him in person. _I guess I understand why he didn't say good bye to me either and just left a letter_.

After she was freshened up, she immediately went to book the next flight home. The earliest direct flight back to Tokyo available was at 11:30 the next morning, so that gave her a little more a day to explore the city, pack, and get to the airport.

* * *

"_New York is crowded_,"Shiori thought has she walked down the streets of the busy city. It was only 10:00 in the morning and the streets were already buzzing with people and vehicles. She stopped by a food stand to buy herself a hotdog and a tourist attraction map.

She flipped through the brochure and found a few interesting places, but since her time was limited, she decided only to visit a certain few. The first stop would be Times Square. She always wanted to visit the internationally popular intersection, brightly named "The Crossroads of the World", where the annual ball drop took place on New Year's Eve. As expected, many people were present at Times Square. Some were tourists, taking pictures of the grand neighbourhood, some merely passing through to get to their destination, others worked there or had things to do in the many shops located there. She spent most of her day sightseeing, enjoying the bustling streets of the city, ventured to a few shops and succeeded in buying a few souvenirs, and was even able to catch a show of The Phantom of the Opera that was currently showing on Broadway. By 7:00 pm, she was exhausted, hungry, and her feet were aching. She decided to try out some famous American fast food before heading back. As she stood at the intersection between 7th Avenue and West 46th Street, she suddenly caught of glimpse of a familiar face amongst the crowd standing on the opposite side of the street as her. As cars sped past her, she didn't get a really good look at the person, but knew who it was at first glance. No matter where he was, how he looked, or what he wore, she would be able to recognize him in an instant. As if sensing somebody was staring at him, the man on the other side of the road lifted his head and their eyes met. As the pedestrian sign shone and signalled safe crossing of the streets, Shiori turned around and ran, as far away from that person as possible.

* * *

She didn't know why she ran. She didn't know if she was afraid of seeing him, or at what she would do when she saw him. She didn't want him to see her cry, didn't want him to worry about her when he was finally happy. She didn't know if she could force a smile and tell him that she's happy for him when she was dying inside. She loved to see him smile, to hear him laugh, but the thought that he was doing it here, away from her and for somebody else broke her heart and she felt tears beginning to well up. She thought about how foolish she was. For months she moped over his departure while he was here having a good time. She knew that she shouldn't be upset at him especially since he said he wanted her to be happy, but she couldn't help the jealous pang in her heart and feeling a little betrayed. He left her so she can be happy, but in reality, he was the one who found happiness while she lived in misery over his departure. She knew she was coping better these days but there was always a lingering ache in her heart that no matter how much time had passed, still stayed with her.

Her vision was getting cloudy as tears spilled from her eyes but she kept running. She was so focused on running that she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. She ran out onto the street with passing cars speeding by her. She was suddenly brought back to reality when she heard a loud honking noise from her left side. She turned to stare at two bright headlights coming right towards her and was frozen in shock. _So this is how my life's going to end_.

Suddenly she felt somebody grab her arm and yank her back hard. She lost her footing and fell into the person who had just saved her life. When she recovered her bearings, she turned to the person and wanted to thank them when she stared straight into a pair of familiar dark brown eyes.

The eyes flashed with a mixture of emotions: anger, worry, panic, and relief. He tugged her further back onto the sidewalk and led her to an alley beside a giant McDonald's sign. He let go of her arm and took a few steps away from her.

Shiori stared at his back and wondered if she should take off again or thank the man in front of her. She was close to coming to a decision when the man suddenly whipped around and stared straight into her eyes.

"What were you thinking?"

There was a hint of anger and frustration in his voice, but none of that could mask the worry that was dominantly present. "Why are you running away from me? Yesterday and now today?"

She didn't know how to answer him so she just stared at the ground.

Silence descended upon the pair and although the streets were still alive with much music and noise, Shiori never felt such awkward silence before.

"I'm sorry, Naruse-san," she whispered.

At her voice, he visibly sighed and his rigid posture eased a bit as he walked toward her.

He lifted her chin so that she would meet his eyes and was not surprised to see that they were red and swollen. _I made her cry again_, he thought, silently cursing himself. The look of sadness and hopelessness on her face was enough to cause Naruse to be overwhelmed with guilt and he wanted nothing more than to hold the fragile girl in his arms and comfort her, telling her that everything was alright, but he resisted.

"Shiori-san, how about you come over to my house and I make you dinner," he suggested with a warm smile.

Shiori was about to deny the invitation but when she saw the genuine smile on his face, she relented and accepted his offer, she was going to do everything in her ability to make him smile.

The pair sat in silence in the taxi on the way back to Naruse's apartment. Both lost in their own thoughts and tired from the run that they just had. It took less than twenty minutes to reach their destination and Shiori was surprised by the lack of traffic that she had just experienced the day before.

Naruse paid the driver and held the door open for Shiori as she stepped out.

He lived in an apartment building with at least 20 floors. The outside of it wasn't too elegant but the lobby of the building was. There was a massive water fountain in the middle of the lobby with two marble staircases descending on either side of the fountain from a scaffold up above. She tried to glance at what was up there and saw a few chairs and tables, and guessed that it was just a common sitting area. There was a reception desk at the side of the lobby to welcome residents or guests to the building. Four elevators were located on the other side of the lobby, opposite of the reception desk, and mirrors lined the back of the lobby, behind the fountain. A large chandelier was hanging from the scaffold, above the fountain, and a few marble statues stood to the side on top of the expensive looking granite floor of the lobby.

Naruse nodded to the receptionist and led Shiori to the elevators. Once they got in, he pressed for floor 19, and the two waited in silence as the elevator rose to the desired floor. The elevator was also lined with mirrors on all three sides and Shiori had to result to looking at the elevator door to avoid meeting Naruse's eyes.

When the door opened, Naruse went out, turned left, and walked to the farthest suite down the dimly lit corridor. He took a key out from his pocket and turned the lock. He opened his door and held it open for Shiori to enter first. "Welcome to my home."

Shiori stepped in and took in her surroundings. The suite was bare and plain looking. The walls that surrounded the suite were of a cream color and no decorations were seen on them. She was able to see the kitchen from the entrance as it was only separated from the living room by a row of marble counters with accompanying bar stools. The living room only contained a black plasma T.V. stationed in the middle of the room and a dark brown leather sofa with a small glass coffee table behind it and in front of the balcony door. The door was currently shut and white sheer curtains were pulled closed, preventing a clear view of the night sky outside. Five lamps were seen, illuminating the suite and giving it a very clean and simple look.

"Come on, I'll make us something for dinner," Naruse said as he stepped in behind Shiori.

"Nice place," she said in hopes of making small talk.

Naruse chuckled softly, "It's pretty empty. I didn't know what to decorate it with. I was thinking maybe a few paintings to brighten up the place."

He turned on the television and told her to relax while he made dinner. She tried to help him but he brushed off the offer and told her to make herself at home.

After 20 minutes, Shiori began to notice a delicious, mouth-watering smell come from the kitchen. _I never pictured him as a cook, but I guess all those years alone, forces you to do many things for yourself_.

"Dinner's ready!" Naruse called.

He prepared the food on the counter top and pointed that they should sit on the bar stool. "Sorry about this. I don't really have visitors so I never thought of buying a table."

"It's fine."

The two ate in silence but Shiori's mind was far from quiet. It's been a long time since she'd been so close to Naruse for a prolonged period of time and she can feel the electricity between them. She wasn't able to concentrate on her dinner as their legs bumped into each other's every so often.

After the meal, Shiori volunteered to help with the dishes, saying that it was the only thing she can do to thank him for the delicious meal. He gave in and ended up giving her the wet dishes to dry. After everything was put away, another awkward silence descended as they sat on the couch and Shiori was thinking of ways to leave the apartment.

"How have you been Shiori-san?"

At Naruse's sudden question, Shiori took a few seconds to gather herself before she could answer. "Fine. What about you? Why are you working at the library" she asked, not looking forward to his answer.

Naruse stared at the television but she knew his mind was elsewhere. He knew that this was something that she wanted to know from the time she saw him in the library the day before. He took a deep breath, ready to tell an account of his long story since landing in New York.

"I decided that I had to leave Japan and the first place I thought of was New York. When I was studying to become a lawyer, I had spent some time here and liked the city. I decided to seek refuge here to figure out where I should lead my life. I rented a small apartment near the library and spent many days just walking around and figuring things out."

Shiori focused all of her attention on him as she knew that he probably would not re-tell this story again and she didn't want to miss anything. She also didn't push him, he can take as long as he wants to tell her what had happened.

"I thought about a lot of things those first few weeks here and I started to miss Japan. My worst experiences were there but I also had a few good memories there too and I missed them. I missed my sister and you, and the staff at my office."

Shiori's heart leapt when he said that he'd missed her, but she managed to keep her mouth shut, waiting for Naruse-san to continue.

"You occupied my thoughts the most. I left when I knew that you were going to be alright, but I still worried. I didn't know how you would take my departure and I hoped that you were not letting my absence hinder your healing. All that thought about you brought memories of the times we spent together back into my conscious mind. One day, as I was walking, I stumbled across the New York Public Library and decided to go in and visit it. I was always fond of libraries, being a bit of a nerd myself, but also because it reminded me of you, the place where we met again. When I went in, I marvelled at the magnificent structure and architecture of the library. When I was about to leave, I saw a small boy looking up at the mural of the Rose Main Reading Room. There was something in the way he looked curiously at the mural that reminded me of Hideo and his inquisitive nature. I walked over to him and explained the mural's meaning to him, luckily I had just read a book about the history of the building, and before I knew it, a crowd had gathered around me as I explained the library's past to them. After I was finished, the little boy tugged on my arm and thanked me before running back to his mother. At that moment, I felt an odd sense of achievement and pride, something that I hadn't felt in years. Later when I began to leave the reading room, an older woman pulled me to the side and offered me a job at the library. She said that she was impressed at how I was able to captivate an entire crowd with just explaining the library's history and that she needed someone like me to lead tours around the library. Seeing that I had nothing else better to do, and at the woman's kind and gentle smile, I accepted the job and have worked there ever since. I have to admit it's not as exciting and interesting as my previous job, but there's a sense of peace and contentment that I didn't get back then."

Shiori was shocked at how much Naruse-san had disclosed about himself, he used to be so secretive that it was hard to believe what she was hearing. At his smile, she gave him a smile back and the two lapsed into a more comfortable silence.

"So why are you here Shiori-san? Vacation?" Naruse asked.

She debated on how she should answer him. Should she lie and say that it was indeed for vacation or tell him the truth? _How can I tell him the truth when he already said that he was happy here?_

"Yes, I'm here for vacation," Shiori said with the most honest tone she can muster up. She looked up and saw that Naruse was giving her a questioning look and she knew that he didn't believe her.

"Shiori-san, please tell me the truth," he whispered, giving her a small smile.

Shiori began to fidget with her hands and bit her lip. She really didn't want to upset him but he wanted to know the truth, he deserved that didn't he? When she looked into his eyes again, she saw warmth and trust illumining from them and all doubts flew out of her mind.

"I was looking for you," she said and if Naruse was surprised he didn't show it.

"There's something that I need to tell you," she started and Naruse stiffened. _It's never a good sign when people start their sentences with that phrase_.

"Okay," he said, encouraging her to go on.

She was afraid to meet his eyes so she stared at her hands as she began to relate the events of the past 6 months to him. He was a silent audience as she told him about Yamano killing Kasai the day that he was stabbed, how Serizawa and the rest of the police department tried so hard to find Yamano but to no avail, how Serizawa was so stressed about it, the Chief's suggestion to find him as he was the only one who knew Yamano, and lastly about how she read an afterimage of his flight to New York from his harmonica.

Naruse sat quietly as she finished her story and she was desperately trying to search his face for a reaction. His face was stone-liked and composed again, like how she was so used to seeing it, all traces of laughter and peace gone from his eyes. She hated herself for dragging him back into his previous dark world and taking away his carefreeness.

"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out when she couldn't take it anymore. "I shouldn't have told you and should have just let you continue living this life here happily. You have a new job, new friends, a girlfriend here and I'm just messing it all up." At the suggestion of having a girlfriend, Naruse's head snapped up and a look of shock mixed with confusion flashed across his face as the young woman in front of him continued blabbing.

His soft chuckle caused Shiori to immediately stop talking and look at him. The warmth returned to his eyes and she let out a breath of relief.

"I don't know if I would be of any help, but you guys are correct when you say that I know Yamano well. I followed him for years before I recruited him and I'm pretty certain that I'm the only person he ever trusted. I would help Serizawa if he wants me to, I owe him and it's the least I can do," he said. "I'll come back to Tokyo with you."

Shiori squealed in joy like a little girl opening a present from Santa on Christmas, and hugged Naruse. When her euphoric state passed, she became aware of her actions and quickly detangled herself from him, cheeks flushing red, causing Naruse to chuckle again. _God, I love that sound_.

"So you only came to find me to help you solve the case," Naruse sounded hurt, but looked at her teasingly.

"No, I missed you. You left again without saying goodbye," she whispered, staring at her hands again as she began to remember all the pain and hurt that she'd experienced in the past few months.

Naruse noticed her sudden change in mood and raised her chin so that their eyes met. "I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly. I didn't know how to face you, didn't know if I was strong enough to leave after I talked to you. I'm so sorry for upsetting you, please know that that was never my intention. I just wanted to do what was best for you," he said, desperately wanting her to understand.

"You don't have the right to decide things for me and besides how do you even know that your leaving would make be happier than you staying?" she questioned, pain and hurt leaked through her voice.

"I know and I'm sorry," he said, silently begging her with his eyes to understand.

She felt that he was speaking the truth and was desperately seeking her forgiveness. She smiled at him and he relaxed at her gesture.

"I forgive you. I'm glad that you are coming home. Just promise me that you'll never do that again," she said as she stared into his eyes looking for confirmation.

"I promise," he smiled as he drew her into his arms again, a sense of security and peace filled her and for the first time in months, she was truly happy.


	12. Chapter 12: Home

Chapter 12: Home

It was late and she knew that she should be resting, but sleep refused to come no matter how hard she willed it. It has been a couple of hours since Shiori left Naruse's place, he volunteered to take her back to the hotel, and now she still found herself staring at the ceiling above her. Her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness around her and with a sigh, she gave up on the intention of sleeping, got out of bed and walked up to the balcony. Down below, the streets were still illuminated with lights as people could still be seen on them. It was definitely not as busy as it was in the day time, but still there were more people on the streets at night here than at night in Tokyo. _No wonder they call New York City the city that never sleeps_.

She exhaled slowly and leaned against the frame of the balcony door, staring at the people on the streets below, and succumbed to her abundance of thoughts and worries.

_Is Naurse-san going back to Japan because he wants to or because he feels obligated to Serizawa-san to help him solve this case? Is this my fault?_ She remembered the faraway look in his eyes when she had finished telling him about the events in Japan, and pondered what he was thinking behind those beautiful brown eyes.

_I know that he's happy here, but something in his tone when he was talking about his experiences here in New York seemed off, seemed like something was missing. Knowing Naruse-san, he's pretty good at deceiving people, could he only be acting that he was happy so that his friends at the library wouldn't question him or is he lying to me in saying that he missed me and wanted to come back? Is he still in pain and just putting on a brave and carefree front or is he actually over his melancholy past and thriving in his new life?_

She suddenly flashbacked to the day before yesterday when she first saw him at the library. He seemed so different at that moment, his face no longer emotionless as he knelt down to the eye level of the child and spoke to him softly, calming down the enthusiastic boy. His smiles and laughs seemed so honest, that she smiled at the memory.

Her eyes suddenly hardened and her heart rate sped up as she thought about the young blond woman who had taken an attraction to Naruse-san. The shock and the sense of betrayal overwhelmed her as she sat silently taking in the picture as the two talked to each other, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings. _Who was she? Naruse-san didn't say anything about her when he talked about his stay here in New York? Is she his friend or something more? Is she important?_

Blaring questions flashed in her mind as she began to get more angry and upset. After a few minutes, she started to calm down and willed reality and logic to set in, as she admonished herself for being so silly and such a jealous freak.

_Naruse-san should be happy right? He deserves it after all that he's been through, even if it comes from the blond haired woman and not me. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything so why should I feel jealous?_ She thought as she huffed and sat on the bed. Turning on her laptop, she hoped that something can take her mind off her burning emotions and crazy mixed thoughts.

* * *

Serizawa Naoto was busy preparing breakfast when Shiori called him. As he was rushing about in his kitchen, juggling his fried bacon in his pan and scrunched his shoulders to hold the phone up to his ears. He was preparing breakfast for Mari-san and himself as he asked her to stay over last night since it was too late to go back after dinner. Although she chose to sleep in the guest room rather than in the room she once shared with his brother, Serizawa didn't mind, just glad to have some company in the large quiet house. He'd even given her key back in case she still had things that she needed from her former home.

He was glad when Shiori called because he was starting to get worried about her. He didn't know which hotel she stayed at so he didn't know how to get in contact with her, so as he spoke to her, relief rushed over him to know that she was okay. She told him that she was catching a flight today and that she should be back tomorrow. When he asked if he should go and pick her up at the airport she declined, and Serizawa was tempted to ask her if she found Naruse, but didn't want her to think that that was all he cared about. He also didn't want her to get stressed over finding him since New York was a big city and amongst all those foreigners, it'll take a miracle to find him. Furthermore, they were never sure that Naurse was still there so he didn't press her any information, afraid that it may make her feel guilty for not being able to retrieve him and bring him home. So the pair made small talk and Serizawa avoided telling her the incident with the bombing.

By the time he hung up, Serizawa was in high spirits and continued making breakfast while humming a tune to a song he once loved.

"Seems like you are in a good mood this morning"

Serizawa turned around to greet his former sister-on-law and smiled. "Breakfast is almost ready."

"Hmm, smells good. You know, even though I've known you for so long, I didn't know you can cook," she teased.

"Well this is not really considered cooking, it's just frying bacon and eggs. Definitely cannot compare to your amazing skills, Mari-san," Serizawa replied.

The pair ate their food in an amicable silence and Mari-san offered to do the dishes as Serizawa headed to work.

He headed to the office with a smile on his face and a light heart, _Seems like forever since I've been so relaxed._

His enliven mood did not go unnoticed by his co-workers as he practically floated in. Takatsuka shot the Chief a confused look only be to met with his bewildered gaze.

"Good morning!" Serizawa said as he sat at his desk and started to bury himself in the cases at his desk.

"Good morning," Takatsuka returned. _Must have gotten up on the right side of the bed for once after so many months_, she thought and smiled at her partner.

* * *

It was 7:30 in the morning and Shiori was pacing around her room, trying to calm her speeding heart. She had packed after making a call to Serizawa, entirely giving up on getting some sleep before the flight. She checked, re-checked, and then triple checked to ensure that she had everything to keep her mind away from the probing question that was currently flashing in her mind.

_Would he show up?_

On the taxi ride home, Naruse-san told her that he will meet her with his luggage here at the hotel at 8:30 so that they can go to the airport together three hours before the flight. There was still one more hour before his planned arrival and she began to get nervous. At 8:25, she began to panic. There was only five more minutes before he should arrive yet there still wasn't any sign of him. He wasn't one to be late. _What if he decides to not show up? Oh my goodness, what if he got hurt on his way here? Hit by a car? Fell down the stairs? What if he decides that it'll be better to just stay here with the blond haired woman and not come back?_

She felt cold sweat drip from her forehead as she continued to think about all the horrible possibilities of how this day can go wrong. She was in such a trance that when a knock came at the door, she jumped and shrieked. She hurried over to the door, threw it open, and sighed in relief as she saw Naruse on the opposite side with two suitcases.

He looked shocked at the sudden movement and stared curiously at Shiori. He looked at her abnormally pale features with dark bags under her eyes and sweat on her forehead.

"Shiori-san are you okay?" he asked as she turned to grab her luggage at the end of the bed.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be," she said as she shot him a big smile, hoping to calm down her furiously beating heart.

"You look a little pale and tired," he said worriedly.

"Oh, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, must be the jet lag," she lied with a small smile and hoped that he would drop the topic.

Naruse seemed to accept her explanation but continued to shoot worried glances at the girl in front of him.

Naruse offered to carry Shiori's luggage as they stepped into the airport. The two got their boarding passes and passed through customs and all the security checks in no time, and the pair were now sitting at a small coffee shop, waiting to board the plane. The two made small talk along the way, but now that they were sitting stationary beside each other, Shiroi felt something rush through her at the thought of having him so close. She couldn't really place the feeling but knew that it was a mix of longing, happiness, and a little discomfort. She discreetly glanced at Naruse who now sat beside her and she was still amazed at how different yet similar he looked. Trusting, open, and carefree were not words that she would've used to describe him in the past, but now, as he was just sitting there drinking his coffee as he took in his surroundings, were definitively fitting. Warm, nice, and chivalrous to her was something that she was used to and was glad that he didn't change too much. Seeing the look of serenity on his face, she relaxed into a seat and continued taking in his appearance.

"Is Britney your girlfriend?" Shiori asked, voicing the thought that had been plaguing her since they first reunited, before she had the chance to stop herself.

"Eh?" Naruse said incredulously. A look of shock and confusion passed over his brilliant features.

Before Shiori could explain her rash question or make up an excuse for it, Naruse began to chuckle.

"No, she's just a friend. She's a bit too loud and extroverted for me. I'm more interested in girls who have a warm heart and a kind, forgiving soul, who can melt the iciest of hearts," he smiled.

Before Shiori could answer, an announcement for their flight was made, announcing that the passengers can start boarding the plane.

Shiori was fuming at the bad timing the P.A. had and walked sulkily behind Naruse as the pair headed to the gate. _Who was he talking about? Does he already have somebody in mind?_

* * *

Four hours into the flight and Shiori was getting sleepy. The last few days' large range of extensive emotions and sleepless nights were finally catching up to her. She yawned and Naruse asked the flight attendant for a blanket. He gently tucked the blanket around her, and gave her a warm smile," Sleep, it's a long way home."

_Home_. Shiori's heart melted at the word and thought that maybe he was actually somewhat happy to be returning to Japan and the smile that he shot her did nothing to calm her already accelerating heart. At his request, Shiori dutifully succumbed to the sleep that was already overpowering her alert senses.

At the low humming of the engine and the dim lights overhead, Shiori was startled awake. Something was pulling her from her peaceful slumber and she didn't know what. She opened her eyes a little as she scanned around the plane. Her heart dropped at the sight of the once peaceful and laid-back man beside her.

Naruse was trembling slightly, as he fisted and relaxed his hands. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and his eyes look faraway as lines of worry were beginning to form on his once soft and smooth cheeks and around his warm eyes. His entire demeanour changed and parts of the old Naruse were seeping though.

Shiori was shocked at the scene in front of her and before she could register what she was doing, she leaned over and kissed his cheeks as one hand came out from under her warm blanket to grasp one of his shaking ones.

Naruse was startled by her actions and froze as he looked at her.

"Naruse-san, what's wrong?" she asked, cutting him off before he said anything.

He smile slightly and shook his head softly. _Of course she would notice_.

"It's nothing, I'm sorry to have woken you. Go back to sleep," he whispered.

"Naruse-san, what's wrong. You can tell me anything," Shiori tried again.

Naruse stared at the young woman in front of him. The one who tried desperately to bring him back to the light during the darkest period of this life, despite knowing who and what he truly was. The one who shed tears for his cursed fate, and continued to love him even though she knew how a horrible, manipulating, and cold person he can be. The one who began to warm his heart of stone and was the sole reason for changing him to the person he was today. The one who accepted all his flaws and was able to see the good in him when nobody else, not even himself, could. The girl he knew he will eternally be indebted to and grateful for, for standing by him during the most trying times of his life.

He saw the trusting and patient look in her eyes, and knew that he could share his worries with her and not be judged. He also knew that he owed it to her to be honest and to not weave lies, bringing him back to his old way of life.

Shiori saw that he was having an internal debate on whether to tell her about his concerns or not, so she gripped his hand harder and smiled as she stared directly into his eyes. "Naruse-san, you can tell me anything. Please don't be afraid."

At her words, Naruse visibly relaxed and gave her a contented smile and in the darkness of the airplane, he began to spill his heart to her.

"I'm not sure how I feel about going back to Japan," he sighed. "The happiest and saddest times of my life occurred there and I'm not sure how to face the things that I've done in the past. Nothing I do can ever atone of the mistakes and hurt I have made and brought upon others."

He began to look out the window as he continued his monologue. "I know that they will never give me their forgiveness nor do I think I deserve it," he said sadly. "And most importantly I'm scared. Scared of facing Serizawa, the police Chief, Sora-chan and her mother, and scared to face the reality of the things that I have done," he admitted regretfully.

"I don't want to see the results of my vengeful actions and how they have affected people after the fact. I'm not too worried about the consequences; in fact, I may actually feel better to be punished. I'm just not ready to face the people of my past again," he whispered.

Then he turned and offered a small smile to Shiori. "But I've ran away for so long, actively rejected my past for so long, that I believe it's time for me to come back to reality and face my demons and accept any punishments."

Tears had begun to well in Shiori's eyes when she heard that he was scared, but they now flowed freely at his acceptance of taking responsibility for his past actions. Feelings of pride, happiness, sadness, longing, and love rushed through her body as she launched herself into him.

Out of all the reactions that he expected her to have, this one was definitely not on the list. He shifted in his position so that her head rested on her chest and secured his arms around her, one around her waist and another buried in her hair, lightly stroking it.

"Shiori-san?"

Her name on his lips caused her to snap out of her trance and she began to control her tears. She smiled in his embrace and moved farther away in his arms so that she can lift her head to look him in the eyes.

"Naruse-san, the person that you have become today is enough to show them that you have changed for the better. The regret and guilt that you feel is a sign that you are no longer the cold hearted person you were before. That is all in the past and the person you are today can definitely qualify to ask them for forgiveness. The first step is to ask them and then accept what they say in return and respect their wishes. If you want to atone for your past and create goodness in the world, you can. You just have to believe in yourself and truly want it to happen. I promise that I'll be with you every step of the way until you found your happiness. While the world is full of darkness, pain, hurt, and unfairness, it can also be a place of happiness, peace, love, and care. All that matters is how you look at things that happen in your life and know where to look to achieve that happiness," she said as she gave him a big smile.

Naruse was appalled by the trust that Shiori still had for him and the hope that she still held for his future. Looking down at her innocent and undoubting eyes, Naruse felt his heart flutter as he knew that no matter what happened in the future she would always be there for him, with him. He didn't know what in his awful past had earned him the faith and love of the pure and angelic girl in his arms, but he vowed to never let her go again and to face all of life's problems openheartedly and fully, just for her.

"Thank you Shiori-san," he breathed as he tightened his arms around his saviour and kissed the top of her head softly.

For the first time, in a long time, Naruse felt a sense of absolute peace and serenity descend upon him as he finally felt himself at home.

_Home is where the heart is, and my heart will always be with you, Shiori-san_.


	13. Chapter 13: Fire

_**Disclaimer: This chapter contains character death!**_

* * *

Chapter 13: Fire

"Serizawa!"

Serizawa Naoto turned in the direction of the screaming voice and instantly stood up as Takatsuka rushed in the door, panting hard as if she had just ran a marathon.

"What's wrong? What happened?

She thrusted a little brown cardboard box into his hand. "A young boy showed up and said that a man with glasses paid him 5,000 yen to deliver this box to the police station, it's addressed to you," she said, still trying to catch her breath.

Serizawa took the box and eyed it wearily. He lightly weighed the box in his hands then gently shook it. It didn't seem to contain anything too dangerous so he grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and began to break the tape that sealed the box. Inside, he found a black envelope and hastily ripped it open to read the letter inside.

"_If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman"_

Serizawa shuttered as he read the note, and a daunting thought began to form in his mind.

"It's from the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 22, verse 22," Takatsuka commented as she peered over her partner's shoulder to read the note.

Before Serizawa could react, the door banged open for the second time that day and the Chief along with Kurata stormed in, a look of apprehension plastered on their faces.

"Serizawa, we just got word from the fire department. There's a fire at your house," the Chief stated.

Realization dawned on Serizawa and without another word, he sharply turned and ran towards his house.

* * *

_Both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman_

The phrase from the note kept on replaying as he neared his house, which only made him run faster and harder. He noticed that there was a lot of dark smoke coming from the direction of his house and knew that Yamano had striked again_. I hope Mari-san isn't there_.

As he approached, he realized that there was a crowd gathered in front of his home and two fire trucks were parked at the side, water hoses stretched from the trunk into his house.

"Naoto-kun!"

Serizawa stopped and came face to face with his neighbour.

"I didn't know what happened but around half an hour ago, I started to smell smoke when I was outside gardening. When I turned to look around, I saw flames from inside your kitchen through the window and called the firefighter and police at once," she explained.

Serizawa nodded to the flustered grandma as he tried to push through the crowd and pass through the yellow tape surrounding his house when the Chief and his partners arrived and grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"I have to go in! I have to know if Mari-san is okay!" Serizawa exclaimed, trying to release himself from Nakanishi's hold.

"It's too dangerous to go inside! Let the firefighters do their job!" the Chief yelled back, not loosening his grip on the young detective's arm.

Serizawa watched helplessly as the fire took a few more minutes to die down before he felt the Chief's grip slack and he dashed towards the firefighters who had just come out of his burnt house.

Before he had the chance to ask them about Mari-san, he saw another group of men come out of the house, carrying a black body bag on a stretcher.

Serizawa's eyes widen and ran for the group. He couldn't find the words as he stared at the black bag so Kurata asked the dreaded question for him.

"Who's that in the bag?"

"We don't know. We think that she's female as she was wearing a skirt. We found her on the kitchen floor. That's where the fire started," one of the men replied. "Not sure if we can identify her, she was burnt pretty badly."

Serizawa fell to the floor as he heard the firefighter say that and tears welled in his eyes. _It's my fault that she died. If only I didn't invite her to stay over_. He thought as he felt strong hands on his shoulder. _I couldn't protect her. Couldn't save the person my older brother and Kasai loved so much_.

Takatsuka and the Chief looked down at Serizawa with pity shining in their eyes. Their mouths were tight and a grim expression on their face.

_We must stop Yamano before these violent murders continue. He must be stopped before another innocent person is hurt_, Nakanishi thought.

* * *

Naruse and Shiori finally stepped foot in the Narita airport 15 hours later. After Naruse's quiet confession and Shiori's heartfelt encouragement the night before, an invisible barrier had been broken between the two, and now they were chatting and laughing with each other like old times and just enjoying each other's company.

The moment the plane landed in Japan, a sense of apprehension passed through Naruse and he became quiet and composed once again. Shiori quickly noticed the change in Naruse's behaviour and immediately started a conversation with him to draw him back out from his hard contemplation. She invited him to stay at the café for a while but he politely declined, saying that his old apartment was still empty and that he'll just stay there. Shiori was hesitant and reluctant at first, fearing that in the confinement of his old home the depressing thoughts that Naruse had so efficiently buried will resurface and that he'll spend his days in a brooding mood. At his assurance and smile, she accepted his decision.

The taxi stopped near Shiori's café and Naruse offered to walk her home. As the pair walked up the familiar pathway to the café, Shiori felt nostalgia flow through her. _This was how it used to be. He always walked me home_.

As they entered the café, they were greeted with the alluring smell of coffee and Shiori invited Naruse to stay and enjoy a cup. Missing the delicious coffee that she used to brew for him, he agreed and she floated to the kitchen in happiness.

_Not much has changed in the time I was gone_. Naruse thought as he walked around the café. It was still early in the morning so the café wasn't opened yet and he suspected that Shiori's friend, Nishina Eri, was still asleep. He paced around the room and stopped as he approached the pile of tarot cards located near the entrance. He felt a pang of regret and guilt in his heart as he reminisced about how he used to use these exact cards to warn Serizawa of his next kill. He shuddered at the thought and sat down on one of the chairs and began thinking about all that has happened in the last few days. _Just a few days ago I was planning to leave New York for my vacation time and visit Paris. But then Shiori-san suddenly showed up and now here I am, sitting in her café in Japan again. The world indeed works in mysterious ways_. He thought as he heard feet bustling around in the kitchen. _I'm glad that Shiori-san came to find me though_, he smiled as he heard Shiori approaching him with two cups of coffee in her hands.

After a few minutes and once again assuring her that he was going to be alright and that he'll call her the next day, Naruse left and Shiori began cleaning the dishes.

She was caught in her own world full of love, happiness, and of course Naruse Ryou, that she didn't hear Eri come down the stairs. She shrieked when she felt some touch her shoulder and dropped the cup that she was washing into the sink.

"Shiori, I'm sorry for scaring you. I called you a few times and you didn't answer," her friend said worriedly.

"Oh no, it's okay, I was just thinking and didn't hear you come down,"Shiori replied.

"You're home early," Eri started. "So, um, how did everything go in New York?" She asked while paying close attention to Shiori's reaction.

Shiori gave her friend a giant smile and said, "Naruse-san is back!"

Shock flashed through Eri's face, but it was quickly replaced with relief. "Oh that's good. Maybe now you'll stop moping around missing him," Eri teased.

"Definitely!"

By the time she had finished washing the dishes and trudged her way up the stairs to her room, Shiori was exhausted. The nap on the plane didn't do wonders for her tiredness and as she laid on her bed, sleep once again threatened to consume her. But before she submitted to her mind's desires, she decided to call Serizawa and to let him know that she's back and that Naruse-san was also home.

As she picked up her phone and waited for him to pick up, she suddenly began to worry how Serizawa would react to Naruse being back in Japan. _It's too late now_, she thought as she heard Serizawa pick up. She expected a cheery voice to greet her, but instead she was surprised at the dismal and dejected tone in his voice. She instantly knew that something was wrong.

* * *

Naruse stared at the outside of his apartment building for a few moments before entering.

"Naruse-san! You're back. Haven't seen you in so long, were you on vacation?" the security guard exclaimed as his famous resident entered.

Naruse smiled at the guard but didn't answer as he headed to the elevators.

He stood outside his door and slowly took the keys from his pocket to enter his old home. The door creaked a bit just like he remembered and he was swept away as past memories began to overwhelm him. He quickly entered and locked the door behind him as he went about his house. He dropped his bags off on the couch and headed to his bed room. The room was exactly how he'd left it, besides the dust that started to pile, everything looked the same. He then went to check the kitchen and the bathroom, somewhat relieved that nothing was disturbed. Lastly, he arrived at the door leading to his photo room. He lightly touched the door knob and slowly turned it. He flickered on the lights and stared at the red room that he once spent the majority of his time in and had the pictures of all of his victims taped to the opposite wall. As he walked in, he had a chilling feeling. The red lights gave the room an eerie and ominous feeling and Naruse wondered how he was able to be in that room for long periods of time months ago. _I've got to get the lights changed and use this room for something else_, he thought as he walked back out to the living room.

_Wow, this house is empty. If I'm staying, I've got to do some redecorating_.

As Narsue sat on the couch, he turned on the television, though he didn't watch it as his mind was elsewhere. He thought about all the times he just sat like this in the past, with his mom's musicbox and his brother's harmonica. Surprisingly, both items were no longer in his procession and he felt a sense of loss at the two things he treasured more than anything else in the last couple of years. He sighed and closed his eyes as he began to feel a sense of relief rush through him as he felt a bit of burden lift from his shoulders at the thought of the two lost mementos. Though they were always important items to him, they were also a constant reminder of what he had lost and now that they were not always in front of him, mocking him, he felt a little relaxed.

_I promised Shiori-san I wouldn't brood at all_, he thought as he lifted himself off the couch, grabbed his bags and went to his room.

* * *

After getting off the phone with the tired and upset detective, Shiori found herself wide awake and unable to calm her nerves as she paced around her room. _He's attacking again, and it's more violent and destructive then before. If Serizawa-san's neighbour didn't catch the fire on time, the entire neighbourhood could have easily burnt down_, she shuddered at her thought.

Her eyelids began to droop and she knew that her body needed rest, but her mind was still wide awake and her adrenaline was still rushing through her veins. She sighed and knew that worrying about it now was not going to help so she went to her closet, grabbed a musicbox, and sat on her bed.

_This always had the special power to calm me down_, she thought as she winded up the brown music box. She laid down on her bed as the music instantly began to calm her nerves. _Naruse-san's mother's music box can do wonders in soothing my restlessness, just like he can_, she thought as she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Down in the shop, the wind chime rang and Eri looked at the customer who just strolled in. She took in his ragged appearance and showed him to a table as she went to attend to other customers. The customer didn't sit down though as he strided through the shop to the pile of tarot cards that was spread out on a table. A smile crossed his face as he picked out a card and saw what was on it. _It's almost time_.

He stared silently at the staircase that he knew led upstairs to a certain lady who was well loved and headed towards the door with a smirk on his face. He was gone before Eri could turn at the sound of the wind chimes again.

* * *

Serizawa was pacing back and forth in front of the Chief's desk and it was starting to get on the older detective's nerves. He knew that Serizawa was upset and on edge ever since he came back from identifying his former sister-in-law's corpse, but he only started pacing after he got off the phone with Shiori-san. The chief sat there wondering what news she could have given him to get him so worked up.

"Can you please sit down!" Takatsuka exclaimed, finally not being about to take it anymore. "You're making all of us more agitated and nervous!"

"Takatsuka" the Chief chided, but internally thankful that Serizawa had finally stopped.

"Naruse-san's back," Serizawa stated, with a blank expression.

The other three in the room were stunned into silence at Serizawa's sudden revelation. Takatsuka shot him a worried look as the Chief and Kurata stared at each other, anxiety and tension hung heavily in the air.

_Things are going to get much more complicated_, Nakanishi sighed, _Let's hope Naruse-san can stop Yamano before more things happen_.


	14. Chapter 14: Cooperation

_**A/N: Finally had time to update! Sorry for the short chapter, but there were a few things that needed to be addressed before the plot can continue. Hope you guys enjoy it and please R&R**_

* * *

Chapter 14: Cooperation

Naruse Ryou (a.k.a. Manaka Tomoo) awoke to the heat and warmth of the sun as it shined down upon him through the windows. _I forgot to close the blinds last night_, he thought as he grudgingly got up from his over-heated bed and headed towards his travel bags and pulled out his toothbrush and tooth paste before heading to the bathroom. He stayed in the shower longer than usual, enjoying the feel of the warm water hitting his skin. The shower used to be a place where Naruse can allow his tears to flow freely and his mind to wonder during his younger days. Later it became a time when he can relax his tense muscles from the stress of school and work, and his constantly angered mind. Although nowadays, he doesn't use the shower as a time to get away from life, he still enjoyed it and usually took his time.

As he finished, he debated on whether he should call Shiori-san or go and visit her at the café. He glanced at the clock, 07:30, it was still early and since Shiori-san was still trying to battle the jetlag, he guessed that she should still be asleep. _I guess I should go to the café then_.

Naruse decided to walk to the café, like he usually did before. He took his time to inhale the clean air and bask in the sun, as he had little time to do so in New York. As he walked up the familiar road, he looked around and took in his surroundings. Nothing had changed much; one of the shops had been renovated, while another small shop that used to sell fabrics closed down and was now a pet shop. He continued to survey his surroundings and was glad that things weren't too different. He stopped short as he closed the distance to the church. The doors were open, inviting people in with open arms as angels watched over you from the top. He gulped and momentarily wondered if he should go in. _God forgives, though I highly doubt even He can forgive someone like me_, he thought, as he approached the steps of the church slowly. Before he knew it, he had entered and knelt down on one of the pews in the front row. He heard soft footsteps coming towards him and turned to see a priest dressed in normal black attire head towards him.

"My son, you are here early. Is there something bothering you?" the old man's gentle and soft voice asked.

Naruse stared into the warm and compassionate eyes of the Father and sighed as he got up and sat on the pews, eyes staring at the floor.

"Father, does God always forgive our sins?" Naruse asked quietly.

The Father smiled and went to sit next to the young man. "God offers forgiveness to those who truly want it," he replied.

"I doubt He'll forgive me though, even if I ask for it," Naruse whispered sadly. "I'd hurt so many people in the past, destroyed so many lives. I know that no matter what I do in the future, I can never atone for the mistakes that I have made."

"The first step to atonement is knowing that you'd done wrong and want to right it. Forgiveness is not given in all places, but that doesn't mean that one should not try to seek it. Redemption is a long road, and it can be assured that the times ahead will not always be peaceful and challenges and obstacles can threaten you off course, but if you faithfully follow your heart and your wish to change for the better, God will offer you a second chance. Forgiveness and atonement is not a gift, it is something that must be earned," the Father smiled at the young man in front of him, seeing the sincerity in the troubled man's eyes.

Naruse smiled and thanked the priest earnestly as he left the church with a sudden calmness in his heart as he continued his way to Shiori's café.

* * *

Shiori smiled as she woke up. She didn't remember her dream but knew that it was a good one and she had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:30 so she decided to go down and see if Eri needed any help with the shop. As she descended the stairs, she stopped and beamed at the sight in front of her. There, at one of the tables near the door, sat Naruse-san. He was dressed in comfortable dark blue jeans with a light blue dress shirt, the top two buttons undone, and his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows. _I guess that's his current fashion trend_. He had a peaceful demeanor as he sat and chatted with Eri, the two occasionally laughed at something that he said. His hair was a bit messy and the dark eye bags that were usually under his eyes were almost gone. He looked like a young, handsome angel as he sat there, the sun shining off his skin as his serene presence calmed her.

As if sensing somebody staring at him, Naruse turned towards Shiroi and gave her a warm smile as he saw her. "Good morning Shiori-san," he said in a light tone.

"Good morning Naruse-san," Shiori replied.

Feeling that it was time to leave the two alone, Eri stood up from her seat and said something about having to brew more coffee before heading towards the kitchen. She looked back and saw Shiori sit in her previously occupied chair and a small smile crept on her face.

"You're here early, I didn't expect you or else I would've woken up earlier. You didn't wait long did you?" Shiori asked.

"No, I just got here and I was enjoying my chat with Eri-san, don't worry," Naruse chuckled. "I told you I would call today but I figured that you would still be sleeping so I decided to drop by instead of waking you up,"

Shiori smiled at his thoughtfulness. She was about to ask him about his night when his calm and tranquil features were suddenly replaced with a look of guilt and sadness. "I want to go see Sora-chan and apologize to her mother," he stated in a soft voice, "before we go and see Serizawa-san at the police station."

Shiori smiled at the man in front of her, pride swelling in her heart as she realized that he was indeed changing and wanted to right his wrongings as much as he can. "Of course we can, I know where she lives. I just visited them a month ago for Sora-chan's birthday. She's going to be so happy to see her Nii-chan again," she said.

After Shiori finished her breakfast, at Naruse's adamant request, the pair headed towards Sora-chan's house. Just as Shiori had predicted, Sora-chan was ecstatic when she saw Naruse and ran up to him and hugged his legs tightly before dragging him and Shiori into her house. Her mother was currently cooking breakfast and was surprised at her early morning visitors. It was Saturday and so she didn't have to rush to work, so she spent her time cooking breakfast for her daughter. When she offered Naruse and Shiori some, they politely declined and the four sat around the table making small talk as Sora-chan and her mother ate. After eating, Sora-chan led Shiori up to her room while Naruse volunteered to stay downstairs and do the dishes. _I guess it's now or never_.

As the pair dried off the dishes and sat at the table again sipping tea, Naruse suddenly blurted out. "Shinitani-san, I'm so sorry!" he said as he got down on his knees and bowed low.

She gave him a confused look and rushed to help him back up, "Naruse-san, what are you doing? Please get up! Why are you apologizing?"

"It was my fault! I was the one who sent you the mist gun, and told a guy to give the teddy bear to Sora-chan. It was I who planned for him to take Sora-chan to the amusement park so you would think that she was kidnapped. I sent the exact same teddy bear to the loan shark and that's how I manipulated you into thinking that it was he who kidnapped Sora-chan." Naruse said regretfully as his forehead touched the floor. "I was the one who made you into an indirect murderer, it was my fault that you have to move houses and get a new job!"

"I know that you may never forgive me, and I don't expect you to, nor do I think I deserve it, but I am so sorry!"

He waited for a few moments before raising his head to look at the silent women standing in front of him. She was staring down at him with a look of confusion, anger, and a hint of disbelief.

"So what you are trying to tell me is that you are the one who manipulated me into killing the loan shark and have caused me to have to deal with that guilt on my conscience. I lost my job, my friends, my house, and even Sora was bullied at school. It was all because of you," she stated as hurt and betrayal flashed in her yes.

"Yes, but I'm so sorry. I really do regret it. I thought that if I could get you off with the plead of self defense then everything would be okay. I didn't plan that you would have to suffer so much," Naruse replied weakly.

"But why? Why me? Why did you help me after getting me in trouble?" Shinitani asked.

"I had a personal vendetta against Serizawa Naoto and his friends and swore to make them pay for killing my younger brother," Naruse started, deciding that it was better to be honest. "Ishimoto Yosuke was one of my targets. I knew that you owed him money and worked at Serizawa's father's company, so you were the perfect person for my plan. I helped you because I did not want an innocent person to be forever hurt because of my personal plan of vengeance and I thought it was fitting to use the plead of self defense to release the person who killed Serizawa's best friend as it was the same plead he used to escape punishment for his crimes years ago."

Shinitani stared at the man before her, still trying to absorb the things that he'd just told her. "I believed you. I trusted you with my daughter! I came to you during my most desperate of times, unknowing that you were the cause to my suffering in the first place," she said. "God, I'm such an idiot!"

Before Naruse could say anything, Sora dashed into the room. "Nii-chan, nii-chan! I just drew a picture of you, nee-chan, and me, come upstairs and I'll show it to you," she yelled as she grabbed his arm.

Naruse shot Shinitani a look as she slowly walked over to her bouncing daughter.

"Maybe next time Sora," she said, quickly removing Sora's grip on Naruse's arm and pulling her away from him. "Nii-chan has a lot of work to do, he was just about to leave now," she said and gave Naruse a cold, hard look.

He took the hint and answered, "Yeah Sora-chan, I've got a few things I need to do since I've been gone for so long. I'll visit you soon though."

As Shiori and Naruse left, Sora-chan stood at her door and waved to them with a great smile plastered on her face, "Good bye, nii-chan, nee-chan, come and play with me soon!"

Naruse's heart broke at the innocence of the young girl and the trusting look in her eyes as they walked away. _She doesn't know what a monster I truly am_.

* * *

It was not a good morning for Serizawa Naoto. After jolting out of his hotel bed from a nightmare, he glanced at the clock and realized that he was going to be late for work. He ran and ran to the station and was still 15 minutes late. In his haste, he knocked down the files a co-worker was holding, almost tripped up the stairs, and banged his nose on the door as he rushed into the office.

Now as he was sitting at his desk with a bruised nose, he nervousness began to overwhelm him as he thought about the meeting with Naruse and Shiori later that day and his anticipation and apprehension was getting the better of him. He wasn't able to concentrate on any work as his mind played out every possible scenario that could occur when he met with his former enemy again.

Serizawa was surprised that when he thought of Naruse, there wasn't any hatred or anger that surfaced. Even if there was, the guilt and regret overshadowed the other two emotions. Every time he thought about the man who was responsible for so many deaths, all he could think about was how it was his own fault, how if he had just paid for his mistakes all those years ago, or if he was just not so arrogant and naïve, that everybody would still be alive and happy right now. He also couldn't ignore all the similarities between them and pity for the man resurfaced. _I decided to forgive him all those months ago at the hospital. I will hold true to that. Besides Shiori-san said that he had changed, I just hope it's for the better_.

"Excuse-me?"

A similar soft voice sounded near the entrance of the office, and Serizawa quickly turned. Shiori-san was standing there with her hair down as usual, wearing a soft cream coloured cardigan over a yellow blouse, with white jeans. Serizawa smiled at the girl before him, "Shiori-san, I'm so glad you are back! How was the trip?"

"It was good. New York is much different from Tokyo. Lots more people and traffic. The food portions there are also ridiculously large," she smiled.

Serizawa was about to comment when the door opened again, and a man stepped in. Serizawa's smile faltered a bit as he saw Naruse Ryou walk into the office. _Something about him is different_.

The way he walked, how he now held his head high and walked confidently, was much different than how he previously hunched over a bit and took each step guardedly as if he was always surveying the people around him. It was the first time Serizawa saw him in clothes other than his regular black suit and was shocked at how young and blissful it made him look. His hair was slightly hanging down and partially covered his eyes also added to his boyish appearance. _This is the first time I had ever seen Naruse-san look so unserious and carefree_.

As the two former enemies stared at each other, taking each other in, the tension grew in the air and it made everybody on edge, eager and worried to see how these two would act.

Finally after a few awkward moments, Naruse smiled, and stuck out his hand, "Serizawa-san, it's been a long time, how have you been?"

Serizawa was frozen in shock. _Did he just ask me how I've been? Is he actually starting a conversation with me? What happened to the stoic and quiet lawyer?_

"I'm fine, it's good to see you Naruse-san," Serizawa finally said after getting over his initial shock and shook the man's outstretched hand. The rest of the group let out a sigh of relief and happiness bursted within Shiroi as she saw their exchange.

"It's good to be back in Japan. New York was a bit too fast paced and loud for me. Didn't know how much a missed the quietness and the clean air until I came back," Naruse smiled again. "So, Shiori-san told me that you needed my help."

Getting straight to the point, Serizawa explained the things that have happened since Naruse left and how they haven't been about to locate Yamano and of the recent incidents that Yamano devised. "We thought that since you were like his only contact that you would have a good idea of where we can find him," Serizawa said, looking desperately at Naruse.

The former lawyer pondered for a while before he gave the detective a small smile, "I'm not sure how much of a help I'll be, but I will do whatever I can to help you solve this case."


End file.
